Let the Flames Begin
by Berytni
Summary: With almost losing his life for the second time in his sixteen years, Artie decides to step it up a notch. Wheelchairs and house fires never did go well together, but Artie and Tina were always meant to be.
1. This is How We'll Dance

A/N: Story Title and Chapter title from Paramore's "Let the Flames Begin". "You're the one that I want" is from the movie/musical Grease. Enjoy :)

* * *

If I hadn't convinced my parents that Artie was _completely_ paralyzed from the waist down, I would have never been able to spend nights at his house. Ever. As I walked up the path that lead to the Abram's household, I remembered the whole conversation. My aunt from New York was staying with us that weekend. The very first thing she said when I described Artie's condition to the family was, "Well that's kind of pointless." The face on my father was priceless. He got it, mom didn't. I snickered to myself remembering such an event. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

"Come on in, darling." Mrs. Abrams said opening the front door. I've honestly never seen the woman without an apron on or a spatula in hand. From home, she ran a small catering service that was slowly growing into a full time commitment.

"Artie's in his room, I think." She said retreating back into her kitchen.  
"If he didn't need help getting out the front door, I swear I'd loose track of him with all these orders." She laughed.

"Well what ever you're making now…it smells delicious." I complimented.

"Thank you, dear." Mrs. Abrams said over her shoulder while washing a mixing spoon.

Though I loved talking to Artie's mother, somehow I knew he'd enjoy my presence more. I continued though the kitchen, and wondered down the hallway where the two bedrooms and one bathroom were. I heard music coming from the last door on the right, typical Artie Abrams. The door was open a crack, and I peered in. With his back was towards me, and an acoustic guitar in his lap, he was singing softly to himself.

"…And you could be my punk rock princess, and I would be your garage band king. You can tell me how you just don't fit in, and how you're going to be something…"

I brought my hand up to my mouth and giggled softly into it. I definitely wasn't spying on Artie; I was just watching him do the thing he loved the most…without him knowing. The temptation to march into the room and start singing along with him was quite high, but I'd probably embarrass him. Instead I knocked on the door frame.

"Artie?" I asked sticking my head though the door.

Once he heard my voice, he pressed his right hand against the strings to stop the vibration. "Hey Tina," he said looking at me over his shoulder. With one motion of his left arm, he placed the guitar in its proper place. I then watched him spin himself around to face me.

"I see you visited my mother on your way in." He laughed.

I looked down at my black T-shirt that had specks of white flour on the front. Honestly, I came nowhere near her ingredients. I smiled at my misfortune and brushed myself off until there was only a shadow of white left. I then returned my attention back at Artie who was obviously amused. Pretending to be offended, I crossed my arms across my chest and humphed. In reaction, he playfully nudged my shins with his chair. My flat smile quickly curved and I swung my arms down from my chest.

"Hang on." He said backing up and then making his way around me.

I turned my body in the direction he was going and watched what he was doing. Artie parallel parked his chair next to the bed and pushed himself to the edge of the seat using his arms. With one swift motion, he transferred his body on top of the twin-sized bed. Though I've seen him transfer from surface to surface numerous times, it always kind of fascinated me how he did it with such ease. After adjusting himself, he patted the spot next to him once, inviting me over.

"I like it better like this." He said as I sat down next to him.

"On…a bed?" I asked, confused.

"No." He laughed.  
"Being on the same level…no wheelchair involved." He said with his head turned towards me.

"Oh Artie." I say gently nudging his shoulder with mine.

Against his mother's wishes, because she was perfectly willing to cook for us, Artie and I ordered a pizza from the local Sub Shop. By then, I had no clue what time it was. All I knew that it was dark and my stomach wanted food. With the greasy pizza box in the middle of the room, I sat cross-legged on the floor while Artie had himself placed in front of me. The local radio station played in the background as we munched.

"Ah, this song brings back memories." Artie smiled reaching over the armrest of his chair to turn off the volume.

"Oh yes. If I recall correctly, Rachel tried to push you off the stage." I smirked.

_Cause the power you're supplyin', it's electrifyin'._

Artie reached his hand down to my level and raised an eyebrow. I looked up at him as smiled wildly as I wiped my hands on my pants. Taking his hand for support, I lifted myself off the ground with a hop. Without even a wink of self-consciousness, I sang along with the words that I knew by heart.

_The one that I want (you are the one I want), ooh ooh ooh, honey. The one I need (the one I need), oh yes indeed (yes indeed)._

Artie walked me in a circle around him as he held on to my hand. Once I was on the other side of him, I placed myself in his lap with my legs crossed over the armrest. By the time the bass part started again, I had both arms around his neck.

"Tina, Artie…for the love of god go to bed." His mother yelled banging on the wall though the living room. We both forgot that it was a school night. Like before, he reached out to the radio, but this time turned the volume way down.

"Sorry mom." He yelled back, giggling aside at me. We both listened until she went back to her kitchen before saying another word.

"I suppose I should get off your lap anyways."  
"I'm probably hurting you." I said starting to get up. He quickly stopped me.

"Really, Tina?" He asked trying to hold back laughter.

"What?" I asked completely clueless. Artie shook his head and emphasized the gloves on his hands.

"Oh!" I said, smacking my forehead with my palm, feeling ridiculously dumb.  
"Maybe sleep _is_ a good idea."

Artie laughed and finally let me off his lap. I did a quick change in the bathroom across the hall. That night, I brought my favorite flannel pants that had headphones and hearts on a baby blue background. When I emerged back into Artie's room, he was sitting atop the bed with his chair adjacent to it.

"You can sleep up here if you want, this time. The floor's no bother to me." Artie said scooting to the edge of the bed.

"Oh no you don't, mister." I said stopping him.  
"You stay put. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Fine." I emphasized reaching for my backpack. Slowly, I unpacked my cranberry sleeping back and laid it out on the floor next to Artie's bed. By the time I was done making my sleeping area, Artie had his plaid comforter over his lap and was leaned up against the headboard.

"If you need anything just…" Artie started.

"Let you know." I said, finishing his sentence.

"Goodnight, Tee." He laughed, laying himself down.

"Goodnight." I smiled, settling in.

Artie pulled the plug on his table lamp; it was much easier then to reach then the actual switch. That was the first time he had ever called me something other then Tina. Before I could think too deep about my new nickname, my eyes closed, and I drifted to sleep.

When I heard a loud beeping in my ears, my eyes shot open to see that it was still dark outside. Pushing black and blue hair out of my face, I sat up and glanced at Artie's alarm clock. It was Three o'clock in the morning. I sat on the floor confused, until I listened more carefully. The beeping was coming from outside of Artie's room. Curiosity got ahead of me. I stood up and walked to the door, trying not to wake up Artie. The second I opened the door I smelt something funny. I continued though the house until I reached the kitchen. A haze of black covered the room. Mrs. Abrams stood in the middle of it all with an ovenmit over her mouth and nose.

"What's going on?" I squeaked.

"Tina." She coughed.  
"Wake up Artie…get him out of here."

I surveyed the scene briefly. That's when I saw neon colored fames that covered most of the counter tops and that traveled along the floor. Before I knew it I was running back to Artie's room, almost slipping on the hardwood floor.

"Artie!" I yelled bursting though the door and forcing on the lights. He started to sir awake. I slid down on my knees next to the bed and got right in his face.

"Artie Abrams, wake up!" I screeched.

"Tina…what's your problem?" He mumbled starting to open his eyes.

"We have to get out of the house. NOW." I said.

"Tina, what's going on? It looks like you just saw a ghost." Artie said with concern, sitting up.

"Th-there's a fire…in the kitchen." I stuttered, pulling his chair over.

"What? Are you serious?" He asked.

"Artie!" I said, cracking my voice.

"Okay, okay." He said dragging his legs to the side.

I impatiently waited as he transferred from bed to chair. If he took any longer, I would have just carried him out myself. Quickly, I got behind his chair and sped down the hallways until we came to the kitchen. The whole room was engulfed in flames and the smoke hurt my eyes.

"Oh my god." I panicked, putting my hands over my mouth.

"Tina, this is no time to have an anxiety attack." He said grabbing my hand and bringing me to the front of him. "Lead the way, I'll follow you."

I looked back at him, and covered my mouth and nose with my right hand to prevent the smoke from going down my throat. Leaving the front door open for Artie, I ran outside down the concrete path where Mrs. Abrams met me in the middle.

"Are you okay?" She asked placing her hand on my shoulder.

"I think so." I panted.  
"Tina?" She said in panic, looking over my shoulder.

"Where's Artie?"


	2. Solo Respira

Thinking that Mrs. Abrams had maybe inhaled too much smoke, I looked over my shoulder. He really wasn't there. My body quickly turned towards the house. The flames from the inside reflected off the glass windows, but Artie was nowhere to be seen.

"I _swear _he was right behind me." I panicked staring at the front door, waiting for Artie's sweet smiling face to roll out. Mrs. Abrams walked to the side of me and placed her right hand on my shoulder and her left over her heart. I heard her swallow hard.

"I-I have to go back for him." I said taking a step forward.

"Tina, stop." Mrs. Abrams said gripping at my shoulder.

"We can't just leave him in there!" I defended, speaking with my hands.

"It's way too dangerous to go back in. I don't want both of you in there." She said sounding very motherly.

"But…he's all alone in there." I choked.

"I know Tina." She said looking up at the house.

"I don't like it anymore then you do."

Smoke continued to pour out of the slowly decaying house. All I could think about was how scared he must be. Not only was he alone in a burning building, but also, he couldn't run away from the danger. Even if he wanted to. With that thought in mind, I reached for his mother's outstretched hand.

Ten minutes had passed before sirens were finally heard coming in our direction. It honestly felt like eternity. The left front of the Abram's household was in a blanket of flames as firefighters came onto the scene.

"Is there anyone else in the building?" The smallest of the group asked. I read the name across her chest and repeated it in my head: Sanchez.

"My son." Mrs. Abrams said on the verge of tears.  
"He's paralyzed from the waist down."

Sanchez and the other firefighter next to her exchanged glances before nodding simultaneously. Yet another rescue crewmember led us to the road where a group of people gave us a blanket to keep the night air off our skins. A firefighter in a faded yellow suit kicked opened the front door. I looked over at Mrs. Abrams. She had her fingers intertwined and pressed against her forehead as she said the Lord's Prayer. I placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Hang in there, Artie." I said gently squeezing her shoulder.

I closed my eyes for a moment hoping the next time I opened them, I'd be lying on the floor of Artie's bedroom. This had to be just a terrible nightmare. To my dismay, I was still sitting on the ground facing the burning building that held Artie Abram's life in it's hands.

"Why haven't they found him?" Mrs. Abrams choked, emerging out of mediation. I honestly had no answer for her. The same question burned in my mind as well. The rescue crew had to be in there for a good five minutes. Emergency Medical Technicians stood on hand with an ambulance ready, and even they seemed uneasy about the situation.

Firefighters began to emerge out of the building one after another, but none of them were guiding Artie out of the building. I stopped breathing. Artie's mother had her hand over her mouth, fearing the worst. After the fourth rescuer walked out, I lost hope. I hung my head, trying to fight back my tears.

"Tina." Mrs. Abrams said straightly.

I looked up. Walking down the stairs that lead to the front door was one last firefighter. In his arms, a lifeless Artie was cradled. Before either his mother or I could react, Emergency Medical Technicians rushed to the firefighter's aid. Artie's body was placed on a stretcher and straightened out. I could see that words were being spoken, but I couldn't hear a single one with all the commotion. Without a word, Mrs. Abrams stood up. Not knowing what else to do, I followed her lead.

"What's happening to my son?" She asked the firefighter that carried Artie out.

"It's tough to say." He said.

I knew exactly what that meant. What he was trying to say, without upsetting Artie's mother, was that he wasn't going to make it. This was also known as false hope, but I held my tongue. Instead I watched the medical team as they slid Artie and the stretcher into the back of the ambulance vehicle.

"If you hurry, you could probably get a ride up to the hospital with him." He said, as I slowly drifted back into the conversation. The way over to the ambulance was also a blur. I couldn't tell if there was something actually wrong with me or if I was just having an anxiety attack.

"There's only room for one more." A woman in a blonde ponytail said.

"Tina, I'll drive up. _Stay with him_." She said taking a hold of my hands and looking at me dead straight in the eyes. All I could do was nod.

The same woman who addressed Mrs. Abrams pulled me into the vehicle. I felt like a rag doll as she sat me down at the seat closest to the door. I told myself not to, but I looked directly at Artie. He was as pale as a ghost and his lips were a tint of blue. From head to toe, he was covered in black patches of soot. His once white T-shirt was now a medium shade of gray with burn holes though out its surface. The most traumatic image for my eyes had to be the condition of his right arm. From the tips of his fingers to his elbow were violent shades of black and red. The worst of it seemed to be around his wrist, where the burn was almost unbearable to look at. The rest of his body had minor burns that resembled the structure of his wheelchair. I couldn't even imagine what he went though in there.

"He's in Shock."

Every single person who was conscious in the room knew what was going on but me. Big, long medical sounding words were spat out all around me. I could have figured out what was going on, but the only thing my mind could concentrate on was the lifeless boy in front of me. Suddenly out of nowhere, Artie Abram's shirt was ripped into two like a piece of paper. His bare chest was exposed to the bright lights of the ambulance. A man with red hair squirted a clear gel all over Artie's pale chest.

"One, two, three."

I then realized what they were trying to do as soon as Artie's whole body jumped from the electric shock of the defibulator. His heart had stopped. I began to squint my eyes shut and bite my lip as they tried again.

"We got him." The blonde woman from before panted. I reopened my eyes. Artie's bare chest was slowly moving up and down on it's own. I started breathing again myself.

The red head put a mask over Artie's face. I only assumed that he was giving him oxygen. Meanwhile the blonde woman began to clean the monstrous burn before sticking on IV in his other arm. Though the EMTs seemed calmer then, I was still shook up by the scene I had witnessed.

Once at the hospital, Artie was immediately rushed to the trauma unit. I was lead to the waiting room by a nurse where Mrs. Abrams was waiting impatiently in a chair. Once she saw me, she ran to my side.

"Artie…I-is he okay?" She asked with fear in her eyes. It was obvious that she was crying before I arrived. Her eyes were red and puffy.

"They got him breathing." I said.

"He's alive?" She asked, anxious to know. I calmly nodded my head, and locked she her arms around in relief. I gasped for air, but then forgave her tight squeezing. I then realized that it was the second time in her lifetime that she almost lost her only son.

* * *

A?N: "Respire Justo" means just breathe in spanish. :)  
Thanks for all the support. More to come soon.


	3. Foreign Skin

"Good morning, Tina." Mrs. Abrams said in a sweet, comforting tone.

I squinted my eyes; it must have been time to wake up for school. I found it awfully weird that Artie's mother was waking me. Usually _he'd_ wake up first and play with the blue streaks in my hair from up above until I woke up. It wasn't until I opened my eyes that I realized that I wasn't on the floor of Artie's bedroom anymore. Instead, I was lazily slouched in a hospital waiting room chair. As I slowly began to sit up, I looked around at my dry environment and tried to remember how I came about it. Mrs. Abrams had herself on one knee so that she was face to face with me. Her strawberry blonde hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail and her face was wall natural with no make up. It wasn't until I looked into her tired blue eye that I remembered why I was there.

"Artie…" I spat out.

Last night, I chose the wrong time to fall asleep. When a doctor came out to the waiting room and said announced that within the hour, they'd knew if Artie was going to make it though the night, I was already struggling to stay awake. Her facial expression was neither blissful nor bitter, so I really didn't know what was coming.

"He made it, Tina." She said with a small smile on her face.

"Everything's going to be okay."

By the looks of it, she was up all night waiting for news on Artie. There were dark circles under her eyes and I was positive that she'd show her excitement and relief more if she had more sleep.

"Is he awake? Can we see him?" I asked.

"I gave him a little visit before I came and woke you. He's still under general anesthesia from the surgery…" She began.

"S-surgery?" I asked.

"They needed a small section of skin to grow in a laboratory for his arm." Mrs. Abrams said. I swore my heart skipped a beat when I remembered the ambulance ride over. "Oh." I said. It was all I _could _say.

"If you want, we could go up and see him before your mom comes to pick you up for school." Mrs. Abrams said as she begun to stand up.

"I'm not going to school, I can't. What if he wakes up, and I'm not there?" I asked.

"I know, Tina, I think it's unfair too…but it's not my call." She said shaking her head slightly. I sighed and looked up at her with disappointment.

"But listen here, sweetie. If he _does _wake up when you're at school, I will call the school and make sure you're the first to know." She said getting back down to my level.

"Thanks." I smiled.

"I'll even pick you up from school, because knowing Artie, he'd definitely want to see you as soon as possible." She smirked.

"Could I still get a ride if he doesn't wake up?" I asked.

"Of course, dear." She laughed.

Though I told her that I wasn't hungry, Mrs. Abrams insisted that I eat something before my mom came to pick me up. She sat me down at a small table in the center of the hospital cafeteria before heading up to the order counter. I looked around at the people around me and realized that we all had something in common, a loved one in distress. Within five minutes, Mrs. Abrams returned to the table with a tray full of food.

"Thank you, Mrs. Abrams." I said as she placed the orange tray in front of me.

"Oh please, dear, call me Catherine." She smiled, sitting down.

"You sure?" I asked.

"Of course, Tina, we're gonna be the best of friends after all this trauma is over." She said. I smiled because I knew it was true.

Once I forced myself to take a bite of food, I realized that my body was fooling me and I was actually quite hungry. That was the first time I had ever eaten hospital food, and it wasn't as bad as people made it out to be.

"I have some extra clothes in the car, if you'd like to change before heading off." Mrs. Abrams said taking her car keys out of her pocket.

"Stuff that would fit _me_?" I asked wiping my mouth off with a napkin.

"Maybe not perfectly, but I'm sure it'd be better then wandering school with pajamas that smell like smoke and hospital." She said.

"Good point." I laughed, looking at myself.

Though Artie's mom had always been good-natured, I was kind of surprised at the hospitality she gave me. It was like I was the daughter she never head. After I threw away my leftovers, Mrs. Abrams led me out of the hospital and into the parking lot. The Abram's family mini van was stretched across three parking spots. I knew Catherine wasn't a careless parker; she was just probably in a hurry.

"You're kidding me." She said.

"What's wrong?" I asked meeting her at the front of the van.

"They gave me a parking ticket. For god sake, I thought my son was dying." She said crumpling the yellow paper square and throwing it in the front seat. I quietly laughed to myself at her rebellion.

"There's a plastic bag in the back, Tina. I'm sure you'll find _something_." She said.

I migrated to the back of the car and looked around until I found a plastic bag that was labeled _Emergency Supplies. _Inside there was a set of clothes for each family member and basic necessities like soap and other hygiene items. I pulled out a pair of gray womens sweatpants and a white T-shirt with a black guitar going down the front that was obviously Artie's. It felt weird wearing Artie's shirt, almost like I was a foreigner in his skin.

"Do you think he'll mind?" I asked looking down the shirt I was wearing.

"Of course not." She smiled.  
"You're his world."

* * *

**I thought I'd end this one on a cute (almost fluffy) note, so that's why it's a little shorter then normal. Plus I wanted to get SOMETHING in before midterm week. Anyways, thanks for Reading/Rating/Etc, and there will be more soon. :)  
**


	4. As Ballad

When I arrived at school, I just stood there next to the passenger door of my mothers Hybrid and stared up at it. This wasn't right. I didn't belong here, I belonged right beside Artie in the hospital. He was going to wake up and think that I abandoned him.

"Have a good day, Tina. Try to smile." She said with the window rolled down.

"Thanks mom." I said looking back at the car.

Once I started up the steps that led to McKinley High School, I could hear my mother slowly pull out of the drop off circle. Though I was very comfortable in Catherine's sweat pants, she was a few inches taller then I was, so the bottoms went under my feet as I walked. The shirt however fit fine, though it still felt weird wearing it. At the same time, however, it made me feel kind of special.

Usually during the morning Mercedes, Kurt, Artie and I would hang out in the library lounge. None of the Jocks ever went close to the library unless they had to for a project. As I walked down the hallway with my books that didn't fit in my bag held close my chest, I heard footsteps behind me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw four over sized football players. Trying not to be too obvious about it, I started walking faster. They caught on quickly.

"Look who it is." The tallest of the group said sliding out in front of me. The rest of the group formed a circle around me. Though things like this happened at least once a week, I began to panic. Never have I been targeted alone, there were no witnesses.

"It's our favorite little _drag queen._"

"I'm not in the mood." I said looking up at them. It was a long shot, but worth a try.

"What, are we _bothering you_?"

"Bite me." I said with an attitude.

"Are you suggesting something?"

"I don't think _cripple boy_ would like that very much."

"D-don't call him that." I said looking my attackers straight in the eye. I hated, _hated_ it when people called Artie a cripple. It only encouraged Artie to call himself the name when being in a wheelchair brought him down.

"What are you gonna do? St-st-studder at me?" The largest one laughed and the others followed his lead. I looked at the ground and held my books close to my chest. I had to bite the inside of my mouth to prevent from spitting in his face.

"That's what I thought, Stutter Bug." He said giving me a push against the shoulder. I caught my balance by stepping back on my left leg, as the group walked away. They continued to laugh and high five each other as I scowled at them from behind my shoulder. The nerve of some people amazed me. The question still pondered in my head that always did when I got attacked, what did I ever do to them?

When I got to the Library, Mercedes was curled up in a cushioned chair with a notebook in her lap. Kurt formally sat across from her with the latest issue of _Elle_ held up to his face. I dropped my messenger bag and books on the floor next to a chair and let myself drop against the cushion.

"Rough morning?" Mercedes asked looking over her shoulder.

"You have _no _idea." I sighed, slouching against the back of the chair.

"God, I wish this day would end."

"Girl, it hasn't even started." She smirked.

I made a face because I knew she was right. Within the first fifteen minutes that I was at school, I got attacked by a group of Glee-hating jocks. If I was at the hospital with Artie that would have never happened…today.

"Oh my _god_." Kurt said peeking over his magazine at me.

"What?" I asked looking from side to side.

"Y-you're…you're wearing…_sweatpants._" Kurt said, disgusted.

I should have known. Except for going to the gym, sweat pants were number two on Kurt's list of things that should never be worn in public. In spite of me, fishnet sleeves were number one. Artie's suspenders and belt combination somehow only made third.

"Don't be such a drama king." Mercedes said rolling her eyes as she doodled in her notebook.

"So what? She's comfortable."

"But…" Kurt started.

"Shush." She hissed.

I couldn't help but smile as Kurt stretched his magazine in front of his face, pretending to be offended. Maybe coming to school wasn't _such _a bad idea, though I'd kill to be there if Artie woke up.

"Tina, where's Artie?" She questioned throwing her notebook onto her backpack. The question sounded so familiar that my heart skipped a beat. _"Lead the way, I'll follow you." _I began to zone out of reality and have flashbacks from last night.

"Tina?" She asked scooting to the edge of her chair with her knees pointed towards me. I glanced at the ground and sniffed before looking at her. "Is everything okay?" I swallowed hard and closed my eyes for a moment.

"No." I said violently shaking my head.

"Oh Tina, what happened _this _time in your pathetic relationship with Artie." Kurt asked placing his magazine in his lap. Mercedes shot him an evil look before starting to comfort me. I couldn't tell if he was talking about us as friends…or more.

"I-it's nothing like that." I said looking up at Kurt.

"Then what?" Kurt asked pulling his chair closer to me.

"Guys…Artie's in the hospital."

* * *

The rest of the day went incredibly slow, everything reminded me of Artie. Not to mention, every time the phone rang during class, I got disappointed because it wasn't for me. By the last class of the day, I was counting off the minutes until the bell rang by tallying them in geometry notebook. This was also the notebook with a bumper sticker across the front that said, "I'm not disabled, I just really like wheelchairs". It was a bit of an inside joke between us when Mr. Schuster had as all roll in Artie's shoes for a week. With that thought in mind, I added yet another tally.

"Tina." Mr. Redmond called.

I picked up my head to face my geometry teacher who looked less then pleased. Math was my worst subject, but that's what Artie was for. He was my lifeline when it came to homework or studying.

"Stay with me." He said. I nodded my head, but when he turned around I looked back at my tally count and changed it accordingly. That's when I realized that I failed to take down any of the notes that were on the board. Usually I'd freak out and start writing them down like a madwoman, but I was at the point where I didn't really care about anything else but seeing Artie.

After the bell rang, I scooped up my belongings and slid them into my messenger bag. Without even stopping at my locker, I exited the school and saw that the Abram's family van was parked upfront.

"Hi, Tina." She said running her hand though her hair to get it out of her face as I entered the vehicle.

"Did he…" I started putting on my seat belt.

She shook her head and her strawberry blonde hair slid back to the side of her face. I could tell she was just as disappointed as I was by this. The rest of the car ride to the hospital was silent except for classical music that played quietly in the background. They dynamic duo of the piano and orchestra really got to me. I was never really a fan of classical, but somehow it spoke to me in a way that was indescribable. Artie would have understood perfectly.

When we arrived at the hospital, Catherine signed the both of us in at the front desk. After she finished scribbling our names down, she lightly tugged at the sleeve of my shirt to regain my attention. Apparently, I was zoned out.

"Now Artie's in room 22A, which is on the second floor." She said.

"Alright." I said reaching into my bag and taking out a pen. Knowing me, I'd leave to go to the bathroom and forget what number and letter combination Artie was in. I could easily imagine it happening.

"I'm going to warn you, Tina," She started as she began to slow down.  
"It's hard seeing him in there."

I looked at the door we were stopped at. Right next to the door frame was a blue sign that had the characters 22 and A attached to it in white plastic. Right under the sign was a name slot where "Abrams, Arthur Thomas" was typed out on a strip of paper. I took a deep breath and swallowed hard.

"I'm ready." I said.

Catherine nodded before she twisted the door handle. She went in first and used her body to keep the heavy white door open for me. I took a few small steps until I was well into the room. There in a hospital bed, which was to the left of me, laid Artie Abrams.

* * *

**A/N:This chapter is actually named after the Classical Piece that Tina was referring to. It's By Yorgos Kazantzis, and it's such a beautiful piece. :)**

**Anyways, thanks for reading. This took me longer to write then expected, and I apologize.**  
**More to come soon. **


	5. Fairness is No Guarantee

As I stared down at Artie's still body, my heart started to panic. I swore that if I were hooked up to a heart monitor like he was, I would break the darn thing. An oxygen mask, similar to the one in the ambulance, was placed over his mouth and nose. The fact that he was breathing on his own was the only thing that prevented me from having a total anxiety attack. Catherine remained holding the door open with her shoulder with her arms crossed against her chest. I just stood there in the middle of the room as I watched him breathe.

"Tina?" She asked in a concerning tone. I was so still that she probably thought I was going to faint. I snapped my head back and looked at her.

"I'm going to get myself lunch or something, I haven't eaten all day." She said pointing out the door with her thumb. Knowing her, she was probably afraid to leave Artie by himself, so she waited until I got there to take care of herself.

"Alright." I responded.

"Are you gonna be okay up here by yourself?" She asked uncrossing her arms.

"I'll be fine." I said reassuring her with a smile and a nod.

She nodded herself, turned her body to the hallway, and looked back at me one more time before exiting. Once the door was shut, and I heard the doorknob click into place, I turned my head forward again. With my arms cradled behind my back, I took a few cat like steps onward. Next to the wall behind me, I noticed a chair similar to the one's in the waiting room. Placing my hand down on the cushion, I slowly placed myself on the edge of the chair. With my knees gently pressed against the edge of the bed, I leaned in to get a better look at Artie.

Weaved in with his brunette locks was a white cotton bandage that covered most of his forehead. A line of blood had soaked though the white fibers on the side of his head. A white fleece blanket, that stopped half way up his chest, covered his body. The green hospital gown that he was dressed in had to be the only bit of pigment in the room. I looked over his torso to see his right arm and was relived to see that the unnerving burn was covered.

I timidly reached my arm out and placed my shaking hand over his forearm. My fingers curled around the veiny inside of his arm. The pulse against my fingertips matched the tempo of the heart monitor next to the bed.

"A-Artie?" I called.

Half of me almost expected him to answer back, but the only sound that came out was him breathing in, and then breathing out. I bit my lip and swallowed hard before sitting back in the chair. I continued to watch him and valued every breath that he took.

When Catherine returned to the room, I was lost in a train of thought about what I'd say when Artie woke up, so the swift slam of the door made me jump a tad.

"I'm sorry, dear." She said placing the contents of her arm in the chair across from the bed. I looked at her and forgivingly nodded my head before returning my gaze back to Artie.

"You're awfully quiet today." She commented.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine." I politely said, placing my hands in my lap. I didn't know who I was trying to fool more, her or myself.

By the time the sun started to go down, I began to wonder if Artie was ever going to wake up. By that time I had been at the hospital, right by his side, for over three hours. Even though he was right before my eyes, I couldn't help but feel he was gone forever. Catherine was a lot better at this then I was. She was curled up in a chair across from Artie's bed scribbling away at a crossword puzzle and looking up at him every hour or so. I on the other hand just kind of sat there with homework in my lap; homework that never got touched.

"Hmmm." Catherine pondered. My head slowly turned to face Artie's mother. She had the eraser of her pencil pressed up to her lips. Her reading glasses, which were similar to Artie's, slowly slid down her nose. When she pushed them back up with the tip of her finger, I couldn't help but smile realizing she's how Artie picked up _that_ habit.

"Tina, what's another name for orchestra that starts with an 's'?" She asked.

"A symphony?" I answered. She mouthed the number of letters as she tapped the boxes with the tip of her pencil.

"Perfect, thank you." She said writing it in.

"How many of those have you gone though today?" I asked.

"I think this is number…five." Catherine said glancing at the pile of finished crossword puzzles that sat next to her chair.

"Oh my." I commented.

After swearing to see Artie's hand twitch, my neck snapped to face him. It turned out to be my mind playing tricks on me. With that, I sank into my seat and let out a frustrated sigh. This _was _hard.

"It appears I missed a call." Catherine said. I returned my attention to her as she brought her glasses to the top of her head.

"Oh?" I asked.

"Yeah." She started, staring at the screen of the large cell phone in her hand.

"Tina, I'll be back"

Catherine quickly left the room with her phone pressed to her ear. I couldn't imagine who could be calling her but when Catherine returned, her face was emotionless. She stopped in the middle of the room with her hands and phone held out in front of her body. Out of instinct, I pushed myself off the chair and took a few baby steps towards her.

"Tina, I have some bad news." She said. My heart dropped. What could possibly be worse then this?

"I-is everything okay?" I asked.

"Artie wise, yes." She said, almost smirking.

"Then what's going on?" I asked.

"Tina, I have to leave. They're starting to take down the house, and I have to be there for liability."

"Can't they wait?" I asked.

"I'm afraid not." She said shaking her head. I could tell that she fought the person over the phone for another time. "I'd hate to leave him. What if he wakes up in the middle of the night confused, or scared, or…" She ranted.

"I could stay with him." I softly said.

"Oh Tina, I don't want to push this all on you." She said grabbing the windbreaker that the hospital provided her with.

"It's no big deal, really." I started.

"I'll probably just work on my homework, and if he wakes up, I'll be here for him."

"Are you sure?" Catherine asked.

"Positive. I'll just call my parents and tell them I will be here." I said.

"Thank you Tina. If you need anything, or if he wants me, ask one of the nurses for my cell number and I'll be right over. If not, I'll see you tomorrow morning." Catherine said zipping her jacket.

"Alright." I said nodding.

"Take care of him, Tina," She said reaching for a hug.

"I can't thank you enough."

Once she was well on her way, I turned back around to face Artie. Instead of taking a seat at my chair, I gently placed myself on the edge of Artie's bed next to his waist. My hand soon found it's way back to his forearm where I held on for my own comfort.

"Look's like it's just us tonight." I said. I couldn't get past how weird it was to speak to someone who didn't show expression of any sort back.

After sitting directly next to him for just fifteen minutes, I was shocked with guilt. Artie and I were in the same house, the same fire, and yet I came out of it all with only a bump and a bruise. I almost wished that I acquired an injury just so life seemed a bit fairer.

* * *

**A/N: Aha! I got this done earlier then usual. Don't forget to review. :)**


	6. Anxiety Speech

Hour in and hour out, nurses would come in to check on Artie. Depending on who came in, I would either get a friendly hello or no recognition at all. Either way, I sat on the edge of his bed the whole time. When medical professionals weren't visiting, I softly talked to my still bodied friend. I apologized for everything that happened to him, which had to be the most challenging thing yet. I hung my head and closed my eyes for a moment, and as I thought about it, I realized his injuries were mostly my fault. Catherine told me to get Artie out of the house and I failed.

The sound of a person coughing snapped my mind out of the blame game. My gaze quickly leapt to Artie since there was no one else in the room. His bandaged head rolled side to side on the fluffy white pillow beneath it as his eyelids began to twitch. I began to lean in and watch him closely just in case it was all a figure of my imagination.

"Artie?" I called in a soft, monotone voice.

His left arm raised and the attached hand cupped its self against the side of his head as he continued to stir. I could hear a soft grown from the center of his throat. Slowly, his bright blue eyes blinked open. My mouth curved into a simple closed mouthed smile as he stared up at me.

"Welcome back." I said, still smiling.

"Tina?" He asked in almost a whisper as he squinted at me. That's when I realized that not only was he coming off drugs, but also his glasses were gone.

"Hi Artie." I said softly, leaning in further and resting on my forearms. His eyes relaxed a tad, as I got closer to his face.

"How do you feel?" I ask.

"Really dizzy…w-where am I?" He asked looking around at his surroundings. The hand against his head scuffled his hair in confusion.

"The hospital." I said smoothing down the hair he ruffled.

"What, why?" He asked with a blank expression. One of the nurses warned me that he might not remember the fire or anything about last night.

"What's the last thing you remember?" I ask. He looked up at the ceiling as he thought about it.

"You." He said returning his gaze back to me.  
"I remember falling asleep and being with you."

I couldn't help but smile at his answer. "What else do you remember?" I asked to bypass my flushed cheeks. He took a deep breath as his thinking face appeared again, before shaking his head with a frown.

"Nothing." He said.

Artie insisted that I tell him why he was laying in a hospital covered in bandages. After swallowing a lump in my throat, I began to tell the story from the beginning where I was rudely awoken by a loud beeping noise. As I narrated, Artie figured out the remote on the bed and arranged it so he could sit up.

"I saw the flames and started to freak out, so you took my hand and said…" I started.

"Lead the way, I'll follow you." He said finishing off my sentence.

We exchanged glances. From the blank look on his face, I could tell that he was starting to remember more. I sat up a bit to relive the tension in my back as he started to think out loud.

"I remember…I remember everything." He said with the same black expression on his face. I crossed my left leg over my right as I prepared myself for what he had to say.

"As you kept going, my chair got stuck. I don't know how…but I just couldn't move." He said. I felt my heart sink into my chest. This could have been prevented if I hadn't been so concentrated about getting myself out. Guilt overwhelmed me as he continued to tell his side of the story. So much that I began to drift in and out of what he was saying.

"I must have lost consciousness somehow, because I definitely don't remember this a bit" He said looking down at his right arm as he moved slightly.

"It was much more then just being unconscious." I said as flashbacks of the EMTs shocking Artie back to life ran though my head.

"What do you mean, Tina?" He asked. I swallowed a large lump in my throat as I looked directly into is bright blue eyes.

"I rode in the ambulance with you and you…you were just so lifeless. You didn't move, you didn't breathe. Nothing. They, they had to shock your heart _twice _to make it start beating again." I panicked. My breathing was very separated and short though out my whole anxiety speech.

"I-I…I thought I lost you." I said feeling salty tears form behind my almond shaped eyes. I glanced at Artie; he had a look of disturbance on his face as well as a hit of empathy.

"Tina?" He asked tilting his head. I looked up at him, my breathing was still staggered and my eyes were watery.

"Tina, it's okay." He said placing his hand with the IV over my own. I looked down at the needle that punctured his skin, and somehow couldn't believe him.

"I'm alright now." He comforted lifting my hand off my lap and placed both of ours on the bed next to him. He wrapped his long fingers around my hand before placing them in the spaces between my own. "See?"

After only a couple of hours of being awake, Artie tired quickly. When a nurse came in to check his vitals, she hinted that the morphine would do that to him.

"I wouldn't be offended if you went to sleep." I said.

"What? I'm not tired." He said. I shook my head; it felt like I was talking to a five year old who didn't want to go bed. Honestly, I wasn't sure who he was trying to fool more, himself or me.

"Artie." I sternly said.

"You sound like my mother." He yawned.

I rolled my eyes before standing up off the bed. My foot had fallen asleep, so I awkwardly walked across the room to retrieve a blanket hung over the chair Catherine had been in earlier. By the time I turned back to face him, his body was no longer at an angle and was lying down. I placed the peach colored blanket in his arms and he delicately unfolded it before laying it upon himself.

"Goodnight Artie." I said sitting down in my chair next to the bed.

"Goodnight." He softly said.

Watching him sleep only aided to my own fatigue, so I swept my legs over the armrest and leaned my neck and back against the cool wall. It definitely wasn't the most comfortable position ever, but I fell asleep as if it were a bed a clouds.

"Tina?"

My eyes shot open to see him sitting up in bed. Moonlight came in though the windows and shined onto the bed spread across Artie's lap.

"Is everything alright, Artie?" I asked rubbing my right eye with my hand.

"Yeah…I'm fine," He started.  
"But this whole hospital thing is sort of creeping me out. I-it just reminds me of…"

He stopped mid sentence and looked down at his legs. I got what he was saying immediately. I swung my legs back over the armrest until my feet touched the ground.

"Is there anything I can do?" I asked resting on my elbows.

Artie scooted his top half to the edge of the bed with his right arm before pushing his legs over so that his whole body resting on half of the bed.

"If you wouldn't mind." He said patting the empty side of the bed.  
"I'm so drowsy, but I can't sleep a wink."

"Not at all. Sure beats sleeping in a waiting room chair." I said pushing myself off the chair using the armrest.

I slipped off my shoes next to the bed before slipping under the covers next to my best friend. I turned onto my left side so that I was facing Artie who was on his back, and I curled up my legs.

"Thanks, Tina. It means a lot." He said moving the pillow over so my head could rest on it with his. "I do feel better."

"It's no problem, Artie." I said with a smile.

And after another formal goodnight, Artie closed his eyes. It wasn't until I was positive that he was asleep, did I allow myself to slip into slumber.

* * *

**A/N: I don't know about you, but I'm really happy Artie's awake now. It honestly makes this story more entertaining for me to write. Ah, the fluff. ****When I was writing Tina's anxiety attack in this chapter, I got really emotional and almost started to cry myself. That's how into this story I get sometimes. Haha. Anyways, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it. :)  
**


	7. Morning Lullabies

As the sun shone on my face, I took for granted how nice it was to wake up in a peaceful manor. When I opened my crusty eyes, I realized that I was merely a nose away from Artie's face. As I swiped my black and blue chair behind my ear I could feel his warm exhales against my skin. My eyes glazed his quiet face from the tip of his chin to the top of his head before smiling ear to ear. After nuzzling my face into the pillow, I twisted my upper body to face the clock that sat above the door. It was 11:15 in the morning. Not wanting to venture out of the cozy covering of the hospital bed, I lied myself back down as I curled my bare arms to my chest.

I began to observe the way Artie was lied out. His head, neck, and shoulders were pointed towards me while the rest of his body was flat. The arm that was bandaged lay across his stomach. All of yesterday I tried my hardest not to look at it, but I couldn't help but stare, as it lay right before my eyes. Except for two fingertips, thin cotton was wrapped around his arm stopping inches after his elbow. I couldn't even imagine the pain of such an injury, but I was pretty sure Artie didn't even notice that his arm was shish kabobed_. _

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. My head and shoulders snapped to face the door almost instantly. With the blinds closed on all the windows that looked out into the hallway, I had no clue who was knocking. If it were a nurse, a doctor, or even Catherine, they probably would have just entered.

"Come in?" I said sitting up and pushing the blankets down to my lap.

The door slowly opened and in came our choir director, William Schuster with a hard acoustic guitar case in his hand.

"Mr. Schu." I said, surprised at his presence. I became slightly embarrassed when I realized that I was sitting in bed with a male classmate in front of a teacher. In one swift motion I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, and straightened out my side.

"How's he doing?" He asked placing the case next to the chair adjacent to the bed.

"Sleeping." I said glancing back at Artie.

"His mother sent us all an E-mail last night, and before I started grading Spanish papers, I thought I'd give the two of you a visit." He said sitting in the chair so that he was level with me.

"What's with the case?" I asked.

"It's for Artie," He started.  
"When I heard about the fire, I felt so terrible… his family lost everything. So, I decided to donate one of the schools guitars." He said leaning forward and placing his interlocked hands on his lap.

"He'll really like that, thanks Mr. Schu." I said with a smile.

"It's the least I could do." He said standing up.

"You're leaving?" I asked tracking him with my eyes.

"I really wish I could stay, but term papers don't grade themselves." Mr. Schuster smirked.

After half an hour, I began to get hungry. That's when I remembered that I haven't eaten a single thing for almost twelve hours. I was torn between making a quick run downstairs or staying with Artie, and then going after he woke up. After my stomach let out a loud growl, my decision was made. Using the back of one of Catherine's finished crosswords; I wrote a short note to Artie saying that I would be back, just in case he awoke. I placed the sheet of paper on his chest, before tiptoeing out of the room.

From yesterday, I remembered how to get down to the lobby, and the cafeteria was only down the hall from there. To make my trip quick, I ordered myself a pre-made bowl of sliced fruit and a miniature box of Lucky Charms. Before she left last night, Catherine told me to charge anything I needed on the room.

Walking back though the hallway, I picked at a couple grapes from the bowl. The fruit wasn't exactly the freshest, but it would have to do. Honestly, I felt kind of awkward walking though the hospital alone, so I was glad when I got back to Artie's room.

"You're awake?" I said, kind of surprised.

"The door slammed on your way out." He said sitting up and adjusting his pillow to comfort.

"Sorry." I softly said placing my breakfast on the table next to my chair, where I eventually sat down with a thud.

"What do you got there?" He asked, squinting.

"Food." I said tucking my knees to my chest as I began to pick at the fruit again.

"Tina?" He asked with a hopeful grin as he leaned forward.

"Are you even allowed to eat?" I asked.

"Who cares, I'm starving." He said.

"Artie." I said sternly.

He humphed and fell back against his pillow with an attempt to cross his arms. I rolled my eyes and returned my breakfast back to the side table. Then I transferred my seat to the edge of the bed.

"Hey Tee, what's that?" He asked squinting over my shoulder at the guitar case next to the door.

"Mr. Schu brought one of the school's guitars over for you." I said looking behind me.  
"Want me to bring it closer?" I asked looking into his eager eyes.

"Please." He said relaxing his eyes and back.

I pushed myself off the bed with my arms and made my way across the room. Laying the case horizontally, I began to undo the four buckles around its center. As soon as the case was opened, the smell of cedar wood and velvet interior filled my nose. With gentle hands, I wrapped my fingers around the fret board and pulled the polished beauty out of its case. When I turned around, his eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store. I couldn't help but smile at his joy.

With his non-injured hand, he took the place of my own hand on the fret board and swooped the body over his lap. He placed his bandaged arm over the body of the guitar as he leaned over it. The hand attached to his left arm formed a chord I've seen him play numerous times.

"It's a shame you can't play." I said crossing one arm over the other.

"Oh…you're right." He said. His once exuberant expression had fallen off his face and he began to look at his bandaged arm. Good work, Tina.

"I-I'm sorry." I said.

"It's alright," He started.  
"Because I have an idea." He said with a smile.

Again with his non-injured again, he took the guitar and leaned it up against his heart monitor. He really began to loose me as he took his left arm and pushed his legs to either side of the bed, all doing so with a smile.

"Come here." He said patting the area of bed between his legs.

"What?" I asked, slightly raising an eyebrow.

"Trust me." He said ending with a closed mouthed smile.

I was still quite lost when it came to Artie's thought process, but I decided to listen to him. For a second I stood over him figuring out how I was to follow through with his wish. I crawled over his left leg and arranged myself so that my back was facing him. Then using my arms, I scooted myself back to him. With a confused look on my face, I looked back at him with a hand on each side next to his hips.

"I may not be able to play, but you can." He said reaching over for the guitar.

"Artie, I haven't played a guitar in my life." I said as he placed the smooth wooden edge against my leg.

"Well that's about to change." He said guiding my right hand, with his two un-bandaged fingertips, over the guitar's body. He couldn't be serious.

"Here, pluck these three strings." He said gently touching each of them with his hand.

"Artie." I said looking back at him.

"Please?" He asked placing his bandaged hand over my arm.

"Alright, alight." I said with a smile, giving in.

For each time his hand changed to a different chord, he instructed me what to do with his hands and voice. I was almost positive that a group of nurses was crowded around the picture window watching, but I didn't care enough to fully check it out.

"Now just use your thumb for the first note, and then your pointer and middle finger to play the last two." He said.

Once I got the rhythm down, he smiled with approval. I was definitely more surprised of my success then he was. Right before I began to repeat the pattern with my fingers, he cleared his throat.

_"I wrote this for my prettiest friend, but while trying not to prove that I care, I was trying not to make all my moves in one motion and scare her away. Well she can't see she's making me crazy now. I don't believe she knows she's amazing how, she has me holding my breath, so I'd never guess that I'm a none such unsuitable, suitable for her."_

As he sang, his head and shoulders gently swayed from side to side. My cheeks slowly turned a rosy shade of pink as I listened to his sweet and charming voice.

Suddenly the door began to open. Artie stopped his voice and paused my hand as he looked over my shoulder. It was probably a doctor or the patient next door telling us to shut up.

"Arthur Abrams, I can hear you all the way down the hall." Catherine said closing the door behind her.

"Sorry, mom." He said under his breath, swinging the guitar back against his heart monitor.

The hospital must have called Catherine last night after Artie woke up, because she didn't seem surprised at all that he was sitting in bed with his best friend playing an acoustic guitar and singing. But then again, this _was _Artie we were talking about.

"How are you feeling?" She asked sitting my usual chair.

I almost started to unmount the bed, but as if he read my mind, Artie placed his left hand over the back of mine to stop my movement.

"A little nauseous, but other then that fine." He said.

"Could have fooled me." She said, rolling her eyes.

* * *

**A/N: Well this is an appropriate time to say: I had all of February break, and all I got was this _one _chapter. I fail. Actually, I had this chapter in my head for a while, I just haven't had a lot of time to myself. Bleh. ****OH! And the song that Artie "sings" is called Prettiest Friend by Jason Mraz. It really is a cute song, I love it! **

**Anyways, thanks for the story love, and I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can. :)  
**


	8. Falling Apart Inside

The only reason I even considered getting up for the next school day was that I was guaranteed to see Artie after. Saturday, my parents didn't let me stay the night at the hospital, which I could have lived with if they let me visit him Sunday. I knew his mother was there with him, but I can't help feel bad. Artie would be stuck there for god knows how long, while I could just leave. That's when I made a pact to myself that I would visit him everyday, no matter what I had to do to get myself there.

"Tina, your friends are here."

After finishing the final coating of neon pink eye shadow on my left eyelid, I glanced at the digital alarm clock on my nightstand. It was 7:15 in the morning, and school started in thirty minutes. Still being in only a gray cami and plaid skinny jeans, I look around my room for something to put over my bare shoulders. My black sweatshirt with the cat ears on the hood caught my eye as it lazily hung over my computer chair.

"Coming." I yelled back slipping my goose bump covered arms into the warm fuzzy sleeves.

Hoisting my messenger bag onto my shoulder, I opened the poster-covered door that led to the rest of the house. As I pummeled down the stairs I zipped my sweatshirt and pulled the hood over my head. My shoes sat next to the welcome mat and I slid my red and purple-socked feet into them in a cat like manor.

With an almost sarcastic goodbye to my family, I opened the front door and lazily dragged my feet down the porch steps. My house was definitely not made for wheelchairs. Every time Artie came over, a small group would have to lift him into the house, and even then we were limited to the first floor.

Kurt's baby blue 1967 Ford Mustang sat in the driveway. His father gave it to him as a surprise after the father and son attempt of restoring it. Mercedes pulled the passenger seat forward, and I tossed my belongings in before squeezing though to the back.

"Girl, we haven't heard from you all weekend." Mercedes said turning towards me as I strapped the center seatbelt over my lap. "How is he?"

"I wasn't allowed to see him yesterday." I said reminiscing on how miserable I was sitting in my room all day doing homework. "But Saturday morning, he was doing pretty good for waking up only the night before."

"Thank god. Tina, next time Artie ends up in the hospital and things aren't looking good, you keep us informed" Mercedes said. _Next time_? I didn't even want to think about it.

Not having Artie at school with me was weird. I was so used to helping him get around McKinley that I almost felt naked walking around without the back of his chair within my hands. The Friday I was back, I was still in shock from the accident. By the middle of the day, the feeling that something was missing drove me crazy enough that I almost considered borrowing a wheelchair from the nurse's office to push around. Kurt talked me out of it during lunch.

* * *

When I stepped into Artie's room, the first thing I noticed was that there was nurse already in the room with him noting things on a clipboard. She was a heavy set black woman with glasses whom I remembered from the previous days I spent here. She glanced at me from over her colorful rimmed glasses before returning to what she was previously doing.

"I can leave." I said keeping my hand on the partway-opened door.

"I'm just about done, go ahead and take a seat." She said in a friendly tone.

Slowly, I closed the door, making sure it didn't slam and wake Artie. After taking a few steps to the left, I reached my usual spot to sit. After placing my messenger bag on the floor against the chair, I lowered myself down on the thin blue cushion.

"You're Tina right?" She asked retracting her pink stethoscope from his chest. He had to be deeply asleep, because I would have instantly woken up if someone went down my shirt with a cold piece of metal.

"Yeah." I said with a slight nod.

"He's been asking for you _all _day." She said hanging the stethoscope around her neck with a smile.

"Really?" I asked feeling kind of bad for not being here.

"Like clock work." She laughed picking up her clipboard off of Artie's legs.

After I learned her name, she left and told me to have the front desk page her if I needed anything. It was nice to know that there was someone looking out of me in this giant place filled with unfriendly faces.

Looking at Artie, I noticed that he loosely held a pen stamped with the hospitals name in his left hand. Seeing a stack of lined paper on the pull out desk over his lap, I stood up and softly sat down on the edge of the bed.. About a page of writing was scribbled on the lines, which made sense considering Artie was right handed. Around the margins of the page, there were multiple doodles such as stick figures and 3D cubes drawn in multiple sizes. I giggled at his generic drawings before my eyes glanced over the words.

So far I haven't been able to keep any solid food down, which sucks because I'm actually quite hungry. My doctor says that it's probably just my body's reaction to the medicine I'm taking. Isn't that stuff supposed to make you feel better?

_I'm beginning to really miss Tina. If I remember correctly, she was last here on Saturday morning. She didn't show on Sunday, which was a disappointment. Don't get me wrong my mother is wonderful to have around, and I love her dearly, but every time she looks at me it looks like she's going to cry. From previous experience, she probably blames herself for all of this._

Snooping was wrong, and I felt bad for it, bit I felt even worse for Artie. No one deserved this, especially him and his family. I readjusted myself so that my back wasn't towards him. He slept peacefully on his right side with his freshly bandaged arm in the shape of an L above his head. The other arm hung loosely over his hip.

I took advantage of Artie not being awake to start my homework. Being careful not to wake him up, I sat cross-legged in the curve of his body with my work in my lap. Except for the repetitive rhythm of the heart monitor behind me, the room was exceedingly quiet, which was perfect for concentration.

After an hour or so, my neck began to hurt from being tilted down for so long. I slowly picked up my head, and cracked my neck my tilting it to the side. Before I stuck my nose back into my work, I decided to check on Artie. To my surprise, he was wide-awake. His light blue eyes shifted to meet mine and a closed mouth smile appeared on his face as he softly laughed to himself.

"When did _you _wake up?" I asked.

"About…ten minutes again." He said squinting at the clock before he let his right arm and shoulder fall back onto the bed.

"Artie." I said rolling my eyes and closing my notebook.

"I didn't want to ruin your concentration." He said with a straight and honest face.

"Well, I guess I can't be mad at you for being good-natured." I said tossing my notebook to the chair next to the wall.

"I missed you." He said placing his bandaged hand loosely over my knee.

I picked up my right hand to put over the top of his, but then returned it back into my lap realizing that I'd probably hurt him.

"It's okay, Tina. They have me drugged up so much that I can barely it." He said shaking his head. I tenderly returned my hand to his. Even though the cotton, I could feel how swollen and warm his injury was. The same gut wrenching feeling of guilt started to come back as I swallowed a lump in my throat. I had to stay strong for him.

"Tina, what's wrong?" He asked sitting up on his own. I could tell that he was sincerely concerned, for his face was still as stone.

"Nothing, Artie." I said, and it wasn't exactly a lie.

* * *

**A/N: I'm not exactly sure if I like this one, but I'm ignoring my inner critic and posting it anyways. Yay for me.  
Anyways, thanks for reading (don't forget to review :D), and I'm sorry that I update slowly...it really does take all week to get one chapter done. Much love, Kiefersaur.**


	9. Dreams Collide

On Wednesday, Mr. Schuster called an extra meeting of New Directions at 2:15pm. I seriously considered ditching rehearsal and going straight to the hospital after school, but knew that Artie wouldn't have been pleased with my decision. Plus one person out of the loop was bad enough, so I decided to at least stay a little while. Before I made my journey to the choral room, I called Catherine from the office phone to tell her not to pick me up until a quarter to three. She didn't answer, so I left a brief message.

When I got to the choral room, everyone was gathered at the grand piano in the center of the room. Rachel sat cross-legged on the black surface of the piano next to a wicker basket with a red bow on the handle.

"Tina! Just the girl we need." She said hopping off the piano. Her pink and white pleaded skirt flowed as she marched towards me.

"You're seeing Artie today, right?" She asked.

"A-after rehearsal." I said making brief eye contact with Rachel.

"Wonderful, come." She said taking a hold of my wrist and dragging me over to the piano. I began to catch on to what was going on once I saw a get well soon card in the center of the basket.

"Whose idea was all of this?" I asked looking over the carefully arranged gift basket obviously destined for Artie.

"It was originally Mercedes' idea," Quinn started resting a hand on her swollen belly.

"But we all contributed." Mercedes added.

I was totally speechless at their thoughtfulness, but it made me realize that I wasn't alone in all of this, and that there were people who felt the same way I did. Artie's hospitalization didn't just affect Catherine and I, it affected every single person who loved and cared for him.

"Here, I'll help you with carrying it outside." Rachel said wrapping her sweater-covered arms around the basket before struggling to pick it up. Finn took a step forward and took most of the weight off of Rachel as he flashed a smile towards her.

"Thanks, Finn." She said, flattered.

I tried to tell them that there was really no point in heading outside, but they were through the doorway before anything could have been said. As I tried to catch up to Rachel and Finn, I thought of something that even I could contribute. On the top shelf of my locker was a framed picture of the two of us from last summer. Before running down the hallway to finally catch up, I gently slid it into my backpack with all of my books.

To my surprise, Catherine and her van was parked outside of the school. She was leaned against the passenger door with a sweater wrapped around her waist. Meanwhile, Finn and Rachel were loading the wicker basket into the back of the van.

"You didn't get my message?" I asked as I made my way off the last to steps that led to the sidewalk.

"I haven't been able to find my phone…is everything alright?" She asked with a small hit of concern in her voice.

"Oh, it was nothing." I said shaking my head in a playful manor.

"A-alight." She said shrugging her shoulders before making her way back to the driver's side of the car. Before making my own way into the car, I thanked Rachel and Finn for their help, even though I probably could have handled it on my own.

"After I drop you off, I'm going across town to my sister's home to freshen up a bit." She said stopping at the last red light from the hospital. "Is that okay with you?"

"Of course. You look like you could use a break." I said glancing at her tired looking eyes.

"Thanks Tina, this whole hospital stuff is kinda wearing me down." She said making a smooth turn into the hospital grounds main entrance.

I couldn't help but feel bad for her. Sure Artie being in the hospital was hard on me, but I couldn't imagine what she was going though, despite how well she hid her emotion from me. Since there was no specific place to drop me off, like the school had, Catherine pulled up to the front doors that led directly to the front desk.

"Do you want help with that cumbersome basket?" She asked unlocking the trunk from her seat.

"No thanks…I think I'll be alright." I said unbuckling my seatbelt.

"Alright, I'll see you in a couple hours." She said nodding.

Once I got the heavy basket arranged on my hip, I closed the trunk, and knocked on the side of the vehicle to give Catherine the okay to leave. Only after a few feet, my arms began to feel like jelly. I couldn't even imagine what made the darn thing so heavy.

When in the lobby, I found the solution to my problem. Next to the bathrooms was a rack of collapsible wheelchairs. After making sure a nurse wasn't around to bust me, I took one of the chairs, and somehow un-crumpled it with the basket still in my arms. Though I felt bad for taking a wheelchair from someone who might actually need it, I was pretty proud of my genius thinking.

Pushing Artie around school made me quite good at getting around with a wheelchair in hand, so I was able to get into Artie's hospital room effortlessly. To my surprise, and satisfaction, Artie was awake and comfortably erect in bed.

"Hi Artie." I said letting the door shut behind me.

"What's all this?" He asked with a smile and a cocked eyebrow as he squinted at me.

"Just a little something that Glee Club put together for you." I said pushing the wheelchair towards the bed.

"Wheelchair included?" He smirked.

"No." I laughed shaking my head.

"I just couldn't carry it for very long."

Before pushing the wheelchair to the oppose side of the room, I removed the basket from it's seat and placed it on the table to the left side of the bed.

As Artie briefly went though the contents of the gift basket, I could tell who contributed what. The perfect looking blueberry muffins obviously came from Rachel, Kurt was the only person I knew who would provide a person in the hospital a complete set of moisturizers, and the get well card signed by all the cheerios couldn't have came anywhere else but Brittany or Santana. Other items such as a teddy bear dressed in a hospital gown and novels were more generic.

"Be sure to thank everyone tomorrow…or heck, maybe I'll write out a little note myself." He said.

"Well hang tight, because we're not done yet." I said reaching for my bag. Before bringing out the picture frame into the open, I cleaned off a smudge with my sleeve.

"The nurses say that you miss me during the day, so I thought that I'd give you this." I said holding out the frame to him. He took the frame from my hand and turned it around so he could see the picture.

"I remember this day." He smiled.

"I was hoping you would." I said running my hand up and down the opposite arm.

"Thanks Tina…this has to be my favorite contribution." He said setting up the frame on the edge of the table at an angle. I smiled at his joy before looking at the ground to avoid the awkward silence afterwards.

"Tina, could you do me a _huge _favor?" He asked placing his hands in his lap.

"Sure Artie, what is it?" I asked.

"C-could you come a little closer…it's hard to see you from so far away, and I'm getting a headache from squinting." He said.

"Sure." I laughed scooting a foot up the edge of the bed so that I was at his pelvis.

"A _little _more?" He requested.

"You're not _that _blind." I said putting my hands on my hips.

"Please, Tina?" He asked.

"Better?" I asked sarcastically pressing my forehead against his head and placing my hands on either side of the bed.

"Perfect." He said shyly smiling at me before leaning in the bottom half of his face with a tilt. I hesitated at his slow moving actions but then mimicked them, realizing that I just couldn't fight it any longer. The top half of our lips connected, and I couldn't believe that was happening until my trembling bottom lip swooped under his. When I realized the reality of the whole situation, I snapped back until my top half was vertical. The butterflies in my stomach had yet to catch up.

"What are we doing?" I asked shaking my head.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Best friends…don't do that." I sighed, trying to avoid direct eye contact.

"Tee, can I be honest with you?" He asked scratching the back of his neck. I simply nodded.

"It hit me last night that I could have easily died in that fire and not everyone gets a second chance at life like that, or in my case…a third." He said. I cringed a bit inside knowing that what he said was very much true. After that be he came quiet, but I held my tongue knowing that he had more inside of his head to say.

"Anyways, I've kinda…no, wait, Tina? Oh what the heck. Tina, I-I still have feelings for you." He said as his cheeks flushed. I could hear the beeps from the heart monitor get slightly faster.

"Artie?" I started.

"Y-yeah?" He stuttered.

"Kiss me again."

* * *

**A/N: I've been wanting to write this chapter for quite some time, which is probably why I finished it much sooner then expected. For the next chapter...I'll see what I can do this week because I'm going to be mad busy. Anyways...thanks for reading, don't forget to review, and have a wonderful evening. :)  
**


	10. Maybe We'll Find Better Days

As I slowly drifted away from Artie's face, I pressed my own set of lips together as I looked down at the floor, trying to avoid the awkwardness. But yet out of the top of my eyes I could see his shy and dorky closed mouthed smile that was a familiar sight to my young eyes. What he said about second and third chances really stuck in my head, because I knew he was right. Not only was he right about the car accident that paralyzed him, or about the fire that put him into the hospital once again, but also about us. I already screwed up once, what's going to stop me from doing so again. By each passing second, I began to wonder if kissing Artie once, if not twice, was a good idea. I should have been happy; this was what I wanted.

"Tina?" He asked with concern. I picked up my head to see him reaching out for me knee with his bandaged arm.

"I'm not so sure about this, Artie." I said avoiding direct eye contact with him.

"What?" He asked shifting his hand slightly back towards his body as his sweet smile turned upside-down. The disarranged 'what' couldn't have hit my heart any harder. I then realized how bad what I said sounded. Not only was I giving him mixed signals, but I was confusing myself as well.

"I'm just afraid of losing you." I said shaking my head, trying to clarify.

"Then you must have been _terrified _for the past few days." He said.

"Don't talk like that." I said lightly hitting him with the back of my hand in the ribs.

"You can't hit me…I'm in the hospital." He said sloppily crossing his arms.  
"_And _I belong in a wheelchair. That's a double offense."

"Artie, I'm serious." I said with a straight face, trying to ease the conversation back to where it belonged. He shut his mouth and sat back against the propped up half of the bed. After looking straight into my eyes and taking a deep breath, he scooted himself to the left.

"Come here, you." He said patting the warm looking spot next to his body. I brought my legs up onto the bed after slipping off my shoes. With his right arm open at a ninety-degree angle, I slipped into the sport between his bandages and torso. Out of instinct, I placed my head and hand on his hospital gown covered chest. Thinking I went to far, I glanced up to his face to see a smile. Soon I felt his arm go over my waist and it pulled me ever so closer to him. I still was wary, but the butterflies in the stomach and my increasing heart rate told me otherwise.

"You know…they say I get to go home in a couple weeks." He said tilting his chin down to face me.

"Really?" I asked with a hopeful smile.

"Yeah." He laughed, closing his eyes.  
"Listen, Tina, do you think that maybe when things are back to normal…would you maybe, I don't know, go on another date – with me?"

Confidence was a beautiful color on him. The doubt in the back of my mind had vanished into thin air. After all, this _was _what I wanted. "I'd love that, Artie." I smiled.

"Really? I mean…great!" He said with a dorky tone of voice.

"I can't wait." I said tilting my chin up towards his face as I continued to hold my blissful smile.

"Then you're lucky that _this _hospital stay is so short." He said.

"What do you mean?" I asked picking my head up.

"After my mother and I got into that life changing car accident, I spent over eight months in the hospital." Artie said reminiscing on the past.

"That's horrible, Artie." I said sinking the side of my face back into his chest.

Just as I got comfortable once again, the door to Artie's room began to open. I twisted my neck to the right and looked out of the corners of my eyes to see who was visiting. Carla, Artie's nurse regular nurse, entered the room with a covered white bowl in her hands. Being a bit embarrassed at the placement of my head and hand, I began to sit up.

"How are you feeling, sweetie?" She asked placing the bowl on the table next to the bed.

"Not too shabby." He said quickly glancing at me. I shyly swooped a section of black and blue hair behind my ear.

"I brought you some organic potato soup that's real easy on the stomach, if you feel like trying to eat again." Carla said. "Made it myself last night."

"That sounds great, thank you." Artie said.

"Oh…I'm getting paged from downstairs." She said looking at the plastic and metal clip attached at her waistband. "I'll check up on you later." She said making her way out the door almost as fast as she entered it.

"Hungry?" I asked reaching over for the homemade soup.

"Please." He said placing his hands in his lap.

I took the plastic wrap off of the bowl and steam exploded into the air. A package of plastic silverware sat next to the bowl and I unwrapped a spoon before slipping it into the creamy looking white soup.

"Don't burn yourself now." I said, realizing the irony of my statement as I looked up at the ceiling with a raised eyebrow.

"Okay, _mother_." He said placing the warm bowl in his lap. I always forgot that he couldn't feel the lower half of his body. It wasn't denial; the fact just wasn't as obvious as his paralysis.

I sat back against the bed, shoulder to shoulder with Artie as he slowly sipped the simple, but good smelling soup. I was completely convinced at that point that Catherine had raised him to be the dorkiest person possible, for he had a paper napkin tucked into the collar of his hospital gown. Not only that, but we were also watching a marathon of Doctor Who.

"Tina, would you mind taking this?" He asked handing me the half empty bowl of soup.

"You feeling alright?" I asked remaining to keep my focus on Artie as I blindly placed the bowl on the table. I couldn't pinpoint it, but something definitely didn't seem right.

"Not really." He said sitting back and looking up at me with cheerless eyes.

My face flinched with sympathy before I turned onto my left side. Artie's good arm crossed over his stomach and I walked my own hand to meet his. The metallic shade of purple painted on my nails contrasted against his normally pale skin tone. I didn't exactly know where we stood, but things were looking good. And to think it _only _took a house fire that almost cost Artie his life.

"T-Tina?" He said barely being able to speak my name as she held my hand tighter.

"Artie what is it? What's wrong?" I panicked.

"G-garbage can…by, by the door." He said in the same helpless tone.

I shot up, and took a step towards the metal garbage can with an unused plastic bag inside. Just in time, I got it to him. My heart began to sink seeing him suffer. Not knowing what else to do, I just stood there over looking the bed. He wasn't kidding when he wrote that he couldn't keep anything down for long. Once finished, he looked up at me, and caught his breath.

I took the garbage can from his hands and placed it between his legs before kneeling onto the bed. With placing my right arm over his shoulder and left arm under his torso, I interlocked my fingered behind his back. Before pulling him in close, I leaned forward slightly so he wouldn't have to.

"What's wrong with me?" He softly asked pressing the side of his face against my side.

I honestly couldn't give him an answer, and I began to wonder what was going on myself. All of this couldn't have come from a bad reaction, right? I was no biology major, but things just weren't adding up.

* * *

**A/N: A little fluff, a little suspense, a little drama? I didn't like this at first, but it's slowly growing on me. But the question remains: What's going on with Artie now? Alright, alright...I'm done teasing. :)**


	11. Scars

The first thing I noticed, the next time I was able to visit Artie, was that sitting on the edge of his nose was a new pair of black rectangular glasses. The second thing, and probably the biggest shocker of the two, was that in his hands was a pair of thick needles with a train of periwinkle yarn hanging from them.

"You're...knitting?" I questioned.

"Mom got sick of me complaining about how bored I was...so she taught me how. "He said placing his work on the side table.

"Oh good." I said taking a seat in the chair across from the bed. "Now you can save your family money by making your own sweater vests."

He laughed sarcastically, placing his hands in his lap. I definitely picked fun at his wardrobe more then I should have at times, but it was all out of love.

"Can I get a proper greeting now?" He asked holding out his arms straight out towards me.

"Yeah." I laughed shaking a strand of hair out of my face.

I pushed up on the chair with my hands to aid myself in standing up. After taking a few steps towards the bed, I gently placed myself on the edge of the bed. Soon I was pulled into his torso by the long veiny arms that held me.

"Hello." I said resting my chin on the upper part of his chest.

"Hi." He said with a big grin as he pointed his face down to look at me.

I contemplated stretching my neck up to quickly kiss him, but still wasn't sure where we stood, so I didn't. Instead, after he released me, I rolled on to my back and laid across his lap.

"Comfortable?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"Very." I said with a slight nod.

Actually, comfortable was a bit of a stretch. Artie's legs were quite bony, and while probably not the best thing for my back, I was too lazy to get up plus I enjoyed the bonding. I did get more comfortable though once I put my feet up on the chair next to the bed. My eyes traveled around the room until a black book-looking object, which sat on the table, caught my attention.

"Hey Art, what's that?" I asked using my elbows to sit up.

"It's our family scrapbook." He said sliding it off the table and letting it plop next to him. "Mom kinda had the same idea that you did…bringing in old photos and such to make me feel better."

"That was nice of her." I said.

"Here…I wanna show it to you." He said placing the book in his lap and patting the empty space next to him.

I fully sat myself up, and scooted down to the end of the bed Artie was at. He undid the snap on the side of the book and opened it to the first page. He then placed it in the middle so I could see just as well as he could.

After going through multiple pages of Artie growing up, he suddenly stopped and hesitated going on to the next page. I watched a muscle twitch in his cheek as he looked down. It didn't take me long to figure out what was chronologically next.

"Tina, I'm gonna be honest with you." He started with a gulp.

"I've accepted that I'm never going to walk again, and that I'm stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of my life, but it's still…kind of hard to…" He started.

"We can skip it, Artie." I said placing my hand on his shoulder.

"No, I-I _want_ to share it with you." He said looking at me straight in the eyes.

"Okay." I softy said.

Using one of his un-bandaged fingers, Artie reached over me, and slowly turned the page. Surrounded by hospital themed stickers that you could find at any craft store, were pictures of Artie that were marked with the date they were taken. A quoted sentence in the middle of the page also caught my eye: "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I spent the first day of autumn laid out on an operating table for eight and a half hours as they tried to undo the damage." He said placing his good hand on the page closest to him. I subconsciously nodded along to what he said.

"I have the scars to prove it." He said grabbing the loose collar of his gown and pulling it down, exposing his shoulder and upper back. Down the direct center, at his spine, was scar tissue that seemed to go on forever. Even eight years later, you could tell how carefully the wound was sewn up.

Usually Artie was very reserved about things associated with his paralysis. The only time I had ever seen him open up to someone about it was after rehearsing with the wheelchairs. Even then, I had to ease him into it. At the same time though, I liked that he felt able to approach me with the subject.

"Tee, I'm getting a tad chilly. Could you maybe grab the blanket over there for me?" He asked nodding across the room to where he was referring.

"Sure thing." I said swinging my legs over the side of the bed.

After a short stretch, I made my way across the room. Neatly folded over the chair in front of the bed, was a peach colored blanket. I draped the thick fuzzy blanket over my arm, trying to somewhat keep it's perfectly even folding job. The scrapbook was back on the table when I returned.

"Too much life story for one day?" I chuckled walking back over with both arms covered in blanket.

"Just getting a little tired." He said letting his head fall back onto the thin white pillow beneath it.

I smiled at his actions and sat on the edge of the bed before spreading out the blanket over the length of his long and slender body.

"Thank you." He said bringing his arms out from under the fuzzy mass.

"You're very welcome." I said using both hands to carefully slide off his glasses. Being sure not to smudge the perfectly clean lenses, I folded them up and placed them atop the Abrams Family Scrapbook. This caused a small closed mouthed smile to appear on his face.

Because I knew he wouldn't mind, and probably wanted me there anyways, I returned to the space next to him. As usual, I draped the tube that led to his IV over my waist so I wouldn't hurt him.

"Sorry that I'm so tired all the time." He said turning his head to the left.

"Don't be." I said wrapping my arms around the one attached to the IV.

"You're in the hospital, you shouldn't be apologizing for anything."

"If you say so." He said shrugging.

I rolled my eyes and gave his arm a gentle squeeze. Honestly, I didn't mind him tired as long as it ended up like this. Once I noticed that his eyes were closed, I did the same hoping to possibly catch up on my missed sleep for the week.

* * *

**A/N: It's not genius, it's not long, and more of a filler then anything - but I felt the need to post _something_. This was kind of a last minute idea, so I apologize. The next chapter, I've had planned for a while. ****By the way, the inspiration for the first part came from _my _boyfriend...he knows how to knit. ****Enjoy! :)**


	12. Where Does the Good Go?

It did not take long for me to realize that there were four people standing directly behind me. Their snickers and heavy gum chewing immediately gave them away. I contemplated not turning around until they left, but my feet did my thinking for me.

"So I hear you and dead legs are a thing now." The leader of the group, a broad shouldered football playing senior, said leaning on my locker. I could not imagine how they found out. The only ones I told were Mercedes and Kur-that's how.

"Don't call him that." I said in Artie's defense as I held my books tighter to my chest.

"Stutter-bug and dead legs...what a perfect pair of handicapped glee club losers." Another one chuckled.

"You can seriously stop." I said.

Having enough of their name calling, I closed my locker and walked away. It didn't take long for my abusers to follow me. Not knowing what else to do, I stopped in my tracks. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the line of jocks behind me with their leader in the middle.

"You know, it's really nice that you're into charity, Tina." He remarked.

"What are you talking about?" I asked turning around.

"Oh, you know...not many chicks would be willing to waste their time on, you know, a _cripple_." He shrugged burying this thumbs into the front pockets of his jeans.

I hated how the fact that Artie was in a wheelchair stuck out more to people then his intelligence or passion for music. They could pick on me all they wanted, I deserved it for faking a stutter for so long, but Artie was a different story.

"You _jerk_." I said reaching out with my right hand and smacking the one who called Artie a cripple. My actions were not planned, but they were definitely needed.

"You're gonna pay for that that, stutter-bug." He said, as he took a violent step towards me. I threw my arms over my head and closed my eyes thinking that he was going to hit me back, but instead, I was grabbed at the waist and thrown over his shoulder.

"Put me _down_!" I ordered, attempting to wiggle loose of his grip around my waist.

Unfortunately, no one heard my cries for help as I was unwillingly carried outside. Either that or the people around chose not to listen. After parading though the parking lot, and hearing the discussion of the jocks, I learned where they were taking me - the school dumpster

"Open it up." The boy carrying me ordered. As I heard the rusty metal hinges squeal, I closed my eyes tightly, and prepared myself for the slimy monstrosity. With one swift motion, I was thrown into the mouth of the dumpster. My landing was soft, but that didn't come close to making up for the smell of rotting garbage.

"Maybe next time you'll think twice before crossing the line, stutter-bug."

One of the boys slammed the dumpster shut, which caused the whole thing to shake. Other then an ample ray of sunshine that peaked though a crack, I couldn't see a thing. Not knowing what else to do, I began to sit up inside the dumpster, brushing garbage off the sleeves of my sweatshirt accordingly. The only thing damaged was my dignity, but other then that, I was fine.

With the sleeves of my sweatshirt pulled over my hands, I firmly pressed my palms to the closed lid. Lifting it only a few feet, I looked around to make sure the coast was clear of the boys who dumped me there in the first place. Only then did I continue to stand up and lift the lid high enough above my head that it fell backwards on its own. As I brushed a candy bar wrapper off my shoulder, I noticed Catherine's van pull into the parking lot.

After throwing the strap of my messenger bad around my neck, I placed a foot on the edge of the dumpster and jumped to the ground. Catherine must have noticed that it was me, because she pulled right up next to the dumpster. I was definitely embarrassed.

"What happened to you?" She asked as I opened the passenger door to her mini van.

"Umm…I-I lost my necklace-and I was retrieving it. Yeah." I said.

"I see." Catherine said, not sounding very convinced.  
"That's what my son tells me too."

I shot her a quick glance before slowly sinking into my seat. Artie was an easy target for anyone to toss into a dumpster, really. I hated myself for thinking it as something he couldn't do because of his paralysis, but it's not like he could physically stop someone from doing the deed.

Before Catherine dropped me off in front of the hospital, I pulled down the sun visor to get a good look at myself in the mirror. I could see Catherine playfully roll her eyes as if to say, "You're visiting someone in the hospital, not running for Miss. Ohio." With that in mind I pretended to ignore the yellow mustard stain in my hair, and flipped the mirror back up towards the ceiling.

"He wasn't feeling so hot when I left, so please share my love, Tina." She said.

"Will do." I smiled.

When I finally did get to Artie's room, I was almost relived to find him sleeping. This meant I had time to make it look like I hadn't literally just come out of a dumpster. That's when I remembered that behind the other door in the room was a small washroom designed to keep patients tidy. Keeping in mind that Artie was indeed sleeping, I tiptoed to the far side of the room and opened the door a few inches. The automatic lights sensed my movement and turned on revealing a walk in shower. I pondered in the doorway of the washroom for a few minutes. If I hurried, and also made it look like the facilities were never used, then I could take a brief shower to get you know – the mustered and anything else I might have embedded in my locks.

"Oh _screw _it." I said unzipping my sweatshirt and letting it slide off my arms to the floor.

I exposed myself down to my undergarments and nearly folded my soiled pieces of clothing on a chair. Sure they would still be dirty, but at least the person in them would be clean. As I entered the washroom, I glanced back at Artie and laughed to myself realizing how bad it would be for him to wake up to me stripping.

Only when I was about finished with using the water, did it begin to get warm. Also, there was only a thin bar of white soap that you'd find at a hotel, so I had to lave that into my hair. But despite the how un-luxurious and cold the hospital shower was, I did feel more refreshed then before. After cleaning up, I wrapped a towel around my head and proceeded back into Artie's room.

"_Tina_?"

I shot my head up to see a fully awake and wide-eyed Artie. My jaw fell to the floor, for I realized that I was only standing in only my undergarments and a towel wrapped around my head. Out of panic, returned back into the washroom and quickly slammed the door behind me. This was _really _bad.

"Tee, a-are you okay?" Artie asked.

"No." I said sliding against the back of the door until I was seated on the floor.

"Can we talk about this?" He asked.

"Artie, you've seen me naked, there's no going back." I said.

"I saw _nothing_, you were completely covered." He said.

"This is so embarrassing!" I said burying my face into my palms.

"Come on, Tina, I can't even _feel _down there." Artie said. I wasn't sure what he was trying to do, make me feel better or making things even more awkward. "Don't make me come in there." He added. I rose and eyebrow and wondered how he would pull that off without hurting himself.

"Fine." I said starting to stand up off the ground.  
"But close your eyes…and cover them too."

"Alright, alright." He said.

Not that I didn't trust Artie, but I peaked out to make sure he wasn't pulling my leg. He may have been a total sweetheart, but he was still a boy. I made a face as I pulled on my dirty jeans and T-shirt over my newly clean body.

"Are you done yet?" He asked with his hands still covering his face.

"I suppose." I said zipping up my jeans.

Artie uncovered his face and picked up his glasses up off his lap. Unfortunately, he was wearing them when I first emerged. I took the green towel out of my hair and shook it out before hanging it on the door handle.

"I-is that a banana peal in your back pocket?" He laughed.

My eyes widened and I reached back and grabbed the brown and yellow mess of a peal. I bent my neck back, closed my eyes, and let out an exaggerated sigh.

"Tina, come here." He said holding out his arms, obviously sensing that I was upset.

I walked around the left side of the bed and sat down with my back towards him. Then I swung my legs over his lap before grabbing a hold of him and burying my face into his chest.

"What happened?" He asked swooping a chunk of damp hair behind my ears.

"I got thrown into a dumpster." I flat out said.

"What? Why?" He asked.

"I slapped a football player." I quietly said.

"Tina." He sighed letting his head fall back against his pillow.

"It was in your defense." I said looking up at him.

"Thanks, Tee." He said, kissing the side of my face.

His small sign of affection made me forgot all about the problems of the day. It was amazing how much power one boy had over me.

"So that's why you were in my shower?"

"That's _exactly _why I was in your shower." I smirked.

* * *

**A/N: I'm not gonna lie, this was fun to write. Haha. I had most of it planned out, but I changed a ton from the original thought. Not sure what I'm doing for the next installment, but that's what spring break is for. :)**


	13. You Got a Face for a Smile, You know

"I've got new music for you guys." Mr. Schuster said bursting though the door to the choir room with excitement. A stack of freshly copied sheet music was pulled out from under his arm as he paraded to the middle of the room

"Mika? We're doing a _Mika _song?" Puck commented making a face at the sheep music handed to him.

"Shush, you don't know anything." Kurt said with an attitude tuning his torso towards the back row.

"Don't knock it till you try it. Be open minded, Puck." Mr. Schu said handing Rachel her assigned sheet music.

Once I was handed my own copy of the song, I skimmed the lines of music. Keeping in mind that the song was in the key of G major, I quietly hummed the upbeat song to myself.

"And Artie," Mr. Schuster said holding out a pile of sheet music to the empty chair next to me before making a face.

"Tina, do you know when he's coming back?" He asked crossing his arms.

"Next week I believe, why?" I asked crossing my right leg over my left.

"Well I gave him the second verse and," He started.

"Mr. Schu if I may." Rachel said raising her hand straight up into the air.  
"If Artie can't meet his obligation to this show choir, then I'd be _happy _to take over."

"Oh _hell _no." Mercedes said shooting a glance at Rachel.

"Calm down, Mercedes, I'm not giving Artie's part to Rachel." Mr. Schuster laughed. "We'll just rehearse that section when he gets back."

"But Mr. Schu!" Rachel complained.

I looked across the room to Mercedes and began to wonder what was wrong with Rachel. Artie was in the hospital for god's sake, it's not like he was purposely missing rehearsal.

"You know Tina…you never told us when we can visit wheels." Mercedes said stopping me on my way out of the room.

"Wow, you're right." I said.

"Need a ride?" Kurt asked swinging his keys around this pointer finger.

"Alright, alright." I laughed.  
"You can visit him with me."

* * *

I entered the room with a grin on my face, but within the first few seconds of being in Artie's presence, my smile disappeared. He was laid out on his right side with his arms curled to his chest. Under the white sheet that rested over his waist, his body shook uncontrollably. His partially closed eyes showed how weak and helpless he was.

"Tina?" He asked in a soft and raspy voice.

I looked over at Catherine was seated next to the bed. She looked exhausted, almost as if she had spent the whole night at the place she was now.

"What's wrong with him?" I mouthed to her, tensing up my face.

"They said it's just a virus." Catherine said using her arms to aid her out of the chair. "We all thought he was getting better, but not too long after you left last night, this all started." She said looking back at her son.

"Tina?" He called again.

"He's been asking for you like that all day. It got to the point where I almost considered calling up your mother and asking if I could take you out of school." She said.

"That bad?" I asked.

Artie groaned from the back of his throat and gripped at the bottom corner of his pillow all while continuing to shake. It broke my heart to see him so sick.

"Maybe he'll perk up now that you're here." Catherine shrugged.

"Kurt dropped me off and Mercedes tagged along. They're in the lobby, do you think it'd be alright for them to visit?" I asked, remembering their request to see Artie.

"I guess so, just don't let them stay too long." Catherine said grabbing her jacket off the chair. "I'll send them up on my way out."

Once Catherine was though the door, I turned to Artie who had been craving my attention since I arrived. After tucking my hair behind my ears I sat on the bed in the curve of his body. With his good arm, Artie reached for my knee and loosely gripped the bone. I felt his tremors though his weak grip and it sent chills though my spine.

"Mer and Kurt are here?" He asked rolling onto the back of his shoulders.

"Yeah." I softly said fixing a stray hair atop his head. Even though his thick head of hair I could feel how feverish he was. "Unless you don't feel up to it."

"I'm fine, don't worry." He said in an unconvincing and raspy tone.

"I will." I admitted.

"I know." He mouthed.

That's when Mercedes and Kurt entered the room. Artie lasted about fifteen minutes of small talk about school and Glee Club before getting tired. I had to give Mercedes and Kurt credit though…they got him to smile.

* * *

**A/N: Aw, poor Artie. Something's going on with that boy. Alright, Alright...I tease no more. By the way, I probably rewrote this chapter about three times, so I apologize that it's not my best. The past few chapters have been fillers, but I'm back on track. :)**

**Also, the song I was talking about in the beginning was Lollipop By Mika. I even planned out who's singing what...I'm such a Gleek. Speaking of Gleek, one week until new episodes. Yay. Okay, I'm done talking now.  
**


	14. Mr Brightside

With the combination of my mother force-feeding me Vitamin-C tablets, and Artie basically quarantining himself from me, I managed to stay perfectly healthy. Artie was sick for about four days, and as much as I wanted to comfort him, he wouldn't allow it because he was concerned that I too would catch the ailment. It was slightly ridiculous, but I couldn't be mad at him for watching out of me I suppose.

I sat next to the bed, in the same chair I've lived in for the past four days, as Artie watched season one of _The Big Bang Theory_. Seeing how into the show Artie was, I quietly giggled to myself. What a nerd.

After four twenty minute episodes, I realized that Artie was actually no longer sick and I should at least be granted the privilege to lay a finger on him. The next idea that came into my head next seemed genius at the time. Artie would probably freak out and possibly get mad, but it was definitely worth a shot.

"Artie?" I asked to get his attention. He turned his head to me, mid sip of water from a straw, and raised his eyebrows.

"I-I wanna try something." I said using my arms to push myself off the chair to face the bed. Artie reached over and put the glass of water on the table and placed his hands in his lap.

"Okay?" He questioned. Not letting myself have second thoughts, I kneeled onto the bed and then continued to swing my right leg over his thighs.

"W-what are you d-doing?" He asked.

"I am…" I started as I slid my way up his body until I was straddling his lap. "Conducting an experiment."

"Oh, w-well then…continue on." He said relaxing the top half of his body. I still didn't think he understood, but that was okay.

With both hands, I removed his glasses and folded them. Then as I fixed one hand next to his hip to lean forward, I parked his glasses on the table out of harms way. A closed mouthed smile drew on my face as I tilted my head to the side to kiss him. Actually this was kind of an experiment; what Artie Abrams would to if I non verbally proposed an open mouthed kiss.

"Is that _legal_?" He asked gently pulling away from my face. This was going to be a long day.

"Yes Artie, _perfectly _legal." I said sitting back on his lap as I rolled my eyes.

"In a hospital? There's got to be some kind of protocol for such behavior and I…" He started.

"Artie, shut up." I playfully laughed as I leaned back in to kiss him.

This time he didn't pull away but I could tell Artie was definitely unsure about what was going on. It was okay though because this was all new to me as well. The longer the kiss lasted, the more comfortable and relaxed he got. After a couple minutes, I actually began to think he was enjoying all of this. Without breaking the kiss, I placed my hands behind his neck and leaned forward with my forearms against this chest. Underneath my fingertips, I could feel the scar tissue that traveled down the center of his back.

"T-Tina…Tina, stop." He said.

"Oh my god, I hurt you didn't I? Artie, I'm so-so sorry." I panicked, dismounting the bed until I was standing on the floor next to it.

"You, you didn't hurt me, I'm fine." He said shaking his head as he took his glasses off the collar of his gown. "It's just…"

"What's wrong?" I asked taking a seat back on the edge of the bed.

"Do you ever feel like you're just settling for me?" He asked putting his hands in his lap.

"Artie, of course not, never! Why would you think such a thing?" I asked.

"No one ever wants anything to do with the kid in the wheelchair. Ever." He sighed.

"Arthur Abrams, when am I ever going to screw into that thick skull of yours that the chair, or anything else regarding your paralysis, doesn't matter to me?" I asked.

"Never." He said with a straight face. I looked into his eyes with disbelief, but he was dead serious.

"Maybe I should just go then." I said swiftly standing up from the bed. If he didn't think what I felt for him was true, then there was no point of me staying anymore was there?

"Tina wait…I-I didn't mean it like that. Please come back. Tina?" He called as I shot out of the room. Even with the door shut, I could still hear his pleas if I stood close enough. The tears I was holding back ever since his antagonized never began to roll down my face. I had two options: forcing myself to go back or running. Guess what I chose.

I walked around the second floor until I found an inlet that led to a storage room. There within the shadows I sat with my knees tucked to my chest and hood over my head. With the sleeves of my sweatshirt, I wiped my teary eyes. My makeup was definitely smeared, but I didn't give a damn what I looked like at that point.

I couldn't believe that Artie really thought that whether he was paralyzed from the waist down or not mattered to me. To me, he wasn't 'dead legs' or any of those god-awful names…he was Artie. I couldn't mean that any more if I tried.

"Tina? Tina where are you?"

I picked up my head out of my knees and looked around the dark inlet. When I heard my name being called again, I peaked my head around the corner to see Artie slowly wheeling himself down the hallway. I never did return the wheelchair that I stole from downstairs to carry the gift basket. Once he saw me, he continued faster in my direction. I began to face forward and tried to dry my eyes to make it look like I wasn't crying.

"Tina?" He asked stopping right before the inlet.

"Hi Artie." I said turning my head around the corner once again. "You're bleeding." I noticed crawling out of the shadows and standing on my knees to get a better look at his left hand. From the looks of it, he just ripped the double IV out of his body without a care in the world.

"I'm fine." He said attempting to hide is wound from me.

"Artie." I said in a mother like tone, placing my hands on his knees.

"Tina listen, I'm sorry. You probably accept me more then my own family, and I was just caught up in what other people think and…I'm sorry." He said hanging his head.

"I shouldn't have walked out on you, it was an impulse, and for that I also apologize." I said.

"We're okay?" He asked.

"We're perfect." I said reaching up and kissing his cheek, causing him to blush.

Artie insisted that he give me a ride back, but I argued that he was the patient and that it would be more traditional if I did all the work. Plus I hadn't pushed him around anywhere since the fire, and I missed the bonding it gave.

"Can we not go back to the room right away?" He asked looking back at me when his room was in sight.

"Artie, you're not even supposed to be out here." I said.

"They never said I wasn't allowed to leave the room." Artie said.

"Probably because they assumed you wouldn't try to." I said thinking out loud. He humphed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"All I'm asking is a couple laps around the second floor." He said looking back at me again.

"Fine." I said passing the room marked with Artie's full name. "But if anyone asks…"

"I'll take full responsibility, I promise. I just can't stand being in there anymore." He laughed.

"Think of it this way, Art, two more days and you're free. Two more days of being on medicine that makes you sick, getting your nutrients from an IV, and getting bathed by a complete stranger." I said bending down next to his face.

"I can't wait." He smiled.

* * *

**A/N: I wrote this in three days, a new record for chapter posting. Kudos for me. I was actually watching season one of The Big Bang Theory before I started writing this, so that's where that came from. Hmmm, I feel like I should have more to say, but I don't so I'm just gonna thank everyone for reading and reviewing. :)**


	15. Say What You Will

I was especially excited to see Artie that Friday afternoon. First of all, it was his last full day in the hospital, if all was well, and secondly I aced the geometry test he had helped me study for. When the Abram's family van wasn't parked outside of McKinley High, like it usually was when I emerged out of the building, I didn't think much about it. Catherine probably got caught up in yet another crossword puzzle or a cooking show on the Food Network. After standing at the base of the concrete stairs that led to the school for ten minutes, I decided to take a seat. With my luck, Catherine would have arrived the second I sat down, but that wasn't the case at all.

After an hour of doing a combination of sitting on the steps and pacing up and down the sidewalk, I began to wonder why Catherine was so late. She was right when she said we'd be the best of friends by the end of all this trauma, and I knew well enough that being 'fashionably late' was not her style. Being the impatient person I was, I let out an aggravated sigh and lied back on the stairs with my eyes closed.

"Tina?"

I opened my eyes quickly to the familiar voice. Standing over me from the second step up was Noah Puckerman.

"Oh hi Puck." I said sitting up and brushing concrete dust off the sleeves of my shirt. "What are you still doing here?"

"Varsity locker clean out." He said emphasizing the red and white gym back in his left hand. "What's your excuse?"

"I don't really have one, I suppose." I said resting back on my elbows.

"Oh…well cya next week." Puck said jogging down the last few steps, taking his lanyard of keys out of his pocket.

"Hey Puck, wait." I said shooting up. He stopped and turned one hundred and eighty degrees to face me once again with an eyebrow raised.

"Do you think I could maybe get a ride?" I asked.

The first thing I noticed while taking a step into Puck's 'gently used' vehicle was the abundance of fast food wrappers and beer cans that covered the floor. The next thing was a stingy smell that clogged my throat, causing me to cough. Beggars can't be choosers, I thought, rolling down my window.

"Hey I didn't know you were into Snow Patrol." I said picking up a CD case off of the floor.

"For you I could be." He smirked.

"Are you hitting on me?" I asked, making a face and leaning in the opposite direction of Puck.

"Is it working?" He asked raising his eyebrows.

"You're disgusting." I commented as we pulled out of the high school parking lot.

I couldn't imagine what Quinn saw in that boy at times. That was why I was so into Artie. Not only was he one of the sweetest and intelligent people I knew, but he also happened to be the most adorable nerd ever.

Within my first few steps into Artie's room, I found myself coming to an abrupt and complete halt. The heavy wooden door slammed behind me as my face contorted with confusion, for the person curled up in a fetal position on top of the sloppily made bed sheets wasn't Artie. After observing the person who had half of their face rooted into the familiar white pillow clutched against their chest, I came to a shocking conclusion.

"C-Catherine?" I questioned, taking a few more steps towards the bed until I was able to look down at her. Catherine's baby blue irises floated to the corners of her eyes and stared up at me. The whites of her eyes were tinted red.

"I killed my son." She whispered into the pillow as she closed both of her eyes.

"What?" I asked shaking my head in disbelief as I took a seat on the edge of the bed.

"I was blessed with a _beautiful _boy, and I was nothing but irresponsible with him." She said stroking the edge of the white cotton pillow. "I'm a horrible mother." She cried, gripping the pillow tighter and burying her face into it. Seconds passed before I put two and two together: Artie was missing and his mother was in hysterics.

"What's going on? Where's Artie?" I asked.

Catherine stared into the bleach white pillow and let out a staggered sigh. "About two hours ago, he started going into short and multiple periods of epilepsy. A-all I could…all I could do was watch him _suffer_." She trembled.

"By the third, he became _so _weak, Tina, that he-he could barely hold on to my hand for support. When his arm went limp and swung off the side of the bed, I thought nothing of it until…u-until…" She held the pillow tighter and her eyes began to liquefy.

"U-until…what?" I inquired.

"He stopped breathing." She cried out again.

Tears fell down her modest cheekbones like precipitation on a rainy day. My trembling jaw fell open as I brought my right hand over my hyperactively beating heart. With every new breath I took, it was heavier and more staggered then the one before it. I gripped my shirt within my right hand and hung my head. This couldn't be happening, not to my best friend, not to my sweet Artie.

"I-is he…oh god. Catherine is he…is he…" I shook, not even able to _say _the dreaded word.

"He might as well be." Catherine sniffed, shaking her head as she slowly began to sit up.

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

"He slipped into a coma, Tina. He can't breathe, eat…do _anything _on his own. In-between seizures, his brain didn't have time to recover so it shut down. At least that's what the neurologist told me." She said.

"Where is he now?" I asked.

"The ICU, but I haven't been down there yet. I-I just can't see him like that again…especially because this is also all my fault." She sniffed, wiping her eyes with her hand.

"How could this possibly be _your_ fault?" I asked, shaking my head.

"The fire – the fire _I _caused poisoned him. They realized that there were still traces of carbon monoxide in his body after a blood test. _That's_ what made him so sick, and _that's_ what caused the seizures."

"He needs us." I swallowed.

It took a lot of coaxing, but I eventually got Catherine to agree to visit Artie in the ICU with me. My nerves were definitely on edge, and I wasn't sure if I was prepared for what was behind Artie's new room on the third floor, but I needed to be strong. Artie would have wanted it that way.

* * *

**A/N: I _made_ myself sit down and finish this today. Now that it's done, I can reward myself with dinner. Hooray. Gosh, 'medical' chapters like this really bring out my inner nerd. I have a folder on my bookmarks page with research _just_ for this story. Please don't kill me for this update.  
**


	16. Verisimilitude

**A/N: Let me just say how _pleased_ I was to see my inbox overflowing with alerts. Gosh, if I knew the last chapter was going to bring in so much love (or hate, haha) I would have done it sooner. But seriously guys, thank you so much for your feedback and support. **

**

* * *

**Artie's new room on the third floor was at least half the size of his previous establishment. Either that or all the machines keeping him alive just made it look that way. I stood only a few paces ahead of Catherine who embraced her back against the closed wooden door. Bating at my lip, I dared to take another step towards the frightening arrangement of wires and cotton.

His chest and shoulders were bare except for three circular disks attached to long skinny wires. Two were placed on the left over his heart and the third was placed higher up towards his broad collarbone. His chest slowly moved up and down, but it wasn't done voluntarily. A plastic tube no wider then an inch hung out of his mouth and traveled over his body to a machine. It made my own heart skip a beat seeing him so broken.

"C-can he hear us?" I asked looking over my shoulder at Catherine.

"I don't know, sweetie." She answered, catching up to me.

I gulped a large lump in my throat and blinked slowly. Tears started to build up on my bottom eyelid the longer I stared at his still body. Catherine was right, he might as _well _be dead.

"He – he's gonna wake up right?" I asked crossing my arms over my chest.

Catherine pressed her lips together and hung her head with her eyes closed shut. That's when I realized the reality of the situation. There was a chance that his eyes would never reflect the suns rays, a chance he'd never hold me in his strong arms, or share his beautiful voice with the world again. They say everything happens for a reason, but I failed to see what the purpose of this new chapter in Artie's life was.

"I-I need some fresh air." Catherine said bringing her hand to her head. I nodded and watched as she quickly left the room.

Afraid that my legs were going to give out on me, I slowly sat down on the chair next to the door. To clear my head, I reached into my pocket for my mp3 player. I closed my eyes, leaned back in the chair, and started the shuffle setting.

"_When somebody loved me, everything was beautiful. Every hour we spent together; lives within my heart. And when she was sad, I was there to dry her tears…"_

"Shut up. Just _shut up_!" I screamed, violently throwing my mp3 player and headphones onto the ground. As tears started to flow from my eyes, I buried my face into my knees, and cried. Why Artie. Why _my _Artie. I half expected him to reach out his arms to invite me into his hold, that's what he usually did when I was upset, but it never happened.

When my parents requested, no – _demanded_, I come home early; I couldn't understand their reasoning. All I knew was that it was the weekend, and I _always _spent weekends with Artie. I didn't want tonight to be any different, but I definitely wasn't in the mood to fight a heated argument with my parents, so I followed their request and asked Catherine to drop me off home.

When I emerged though the front door, feeling defeated, I was shocked to see my parents lined shoulder to shoulder before me. My father, with his arms crossed and a sheet of copy paper in his hand, didn't look pleased.

"What's up?" I asked dropping my messenger bag by the door.

"You're math grade…that's what's "up." Dad said handing me the piece of paper.

It was the print out for five-week grade in geometry. After scanning the number and letter grades on the page, I realized I was failing the class with a fifty-seven.

"B-but I just got a ninety on the last test we took…Artie helped me study, I don't know why I'm failing." I said pointing to my grade.

"Tina, that's _with _your remarkable test grade." Dad said grabbing the paper out of my hand and pointing out my ninety at the bottom of the page.

"Oh." I said making a face and biting my lip.

"I'll do better this half, I _promise_."

"That's right you will, because you're not leaving this house until you have a at _least _an eighty." Dad said.

"What? No…Dad, that's unfair. I needto see Artie." I panicked.

"Honey calm down, you'll see him at school on Monday." Mom laughed.

I only wished my parents knew the reality of my situation. No, I would not see Artie in school on Monday, and there was a chance that he'd never roll though the halls of McKinley High School again. With that, I let the paper float down to the ground and stormed up the stairs to my bedroom. Before collapsing face first onto my bed, I grabbed my sweatshirt from the day before and buried my face into it. Besides the obvious stench of hospital, Artie's smell lingered within the cotton-polyester blend.

"Sweetie, can I come in?" My mother said in a sweet voice as she tapped at my closed door. I sat up and swung my legs over the bed, keeping the sweatshirt in my lap.

"I suppose." I sighed.

She opened the door and light from the hallway traveled across the hardwood floor. After making a remark about how dark my room was, she flicked the switch to the light hanging above my bed. Held in her palms was a white teacup with a rounded bottom.

"Honey, is everything alright?" She asked taking a seat next to me on the bed.

"Fine." I said keeping my gaze forward.

"Did something happen between you and Artie today?" She asked with a sympathetic look on her face.

"You could say that." I said with little emotion.

"Wanna talk about it?" She asked handing me the steaming cup of tea.

"To be frank, mom. He's either coming back to me or never at all…and he doesn't have a choice in the matter. It's all medical now."

* * *

**A/N (part 2): I came quite close to crying while writing this. Just saying. Also, the song that Tina listened to was "When She Loved Me" By Sarah McLachlan.  
**


	17. Even If You Cannot Hear My Voice

_The room was filled with people dressed in black. As I surveyed the faces crowding the tiny looking room, I began to recognize who was in my presence. On the side comforting a tearful Catherine was my mother with her silky hair pulled into a subtle ponytail. My pears from New Directions were also spread amongst the crowed. Every one of their faces was stripped of emotion._

_A single wilted red rose held itself erect in a bud vase on the table adjacent to the bed. Two lone petals remained loosely attached to the stem of the plant. The rest were scattered below the vase on a thin paper doily. Within minutes, there was only a singular petal hanging on by only a few fibers._

_It was a loud and obnoxious beeping that reminded me where I was. My neck snapped and focused on the hyperactive machine._

"_No." I whispered on a heavy exhale as I sprinted across the room._

"_Artie no." _

_With my dark teal fingernails gripped to the sheets on either side of his ribcage, I hovered over Artie's torso. My own breathing became short and stuttered._

"_Stay with me, Arthur." I said bringing my knees up onto the bed and lying in the empty space between his right arm and side. With my dominant hand molded to the back of Artie's skull, I pointed his chin down towards me. _

Beep.

_Stroking the side of his prickly face with my free hand, I continued to beg and plea for him to stay with me. I told him how _much _he had to live for and promised that I'd help him though what was to come after he woke up._

Beep.

_From his neck, I retracted my hand and tucked it under the opposite arm as I slid down to lay my ear over the wires keeping track of his weakening pulse. As I grasped the thin cotton fabric of Artie's gown within my left hand, I squeezed my eyes shut and let out a staggered sigh. _

Beep.

_My attention was brought back to the rose wilting on the table before my eyes. In almost slow motion, the last petal abandoned its stem and floated downwards. The petal landed on the paper doily below, and on it's impact, Artie flat lined._

With a gasp, I shot up in bed. After frantically looking around my dark bedroom, I realized that it was all just a dream. Out of relief, I sighed and stretched a hand over my chest. It all seemed so real…for a second; I really thought I lost Artie.

"It was just a dream." I repeated to myself, sinking back into bed.

But no matter how many times I told myself that, the images of Artie lying in my arms without a pulse simply haunted me to the bone. As I lied in bed with my comforter bunched up in my arms, I tried to bypass the terrible thoughts. However, what really kept me up was not being able to say that what happened in my dream, couldn't happen.

Ever since the day Artie slipped into his deep slumber, and the night of my grounding, I haven't been to the hospital since. Right now all I needed was to see him breathing and feel his pulse from under his skin. Right now I needed Artie.

That's when I got the idea that would normally have made me think twice about my sanity. The fact that I was deeply considering sneaking out of the house and hiking eight miles this late at night to see an unconscious person made me realize how truly tired I was at the time. But despite that _minor _detail, I found myself sliding out of bed to find something to pull over my bare legs within five minutes of the original thought.

It was cold. My lungs stung from the night air, and with every exhale; a transparent cloud of vapor materialized in front of my face. I had four hours before my mother would rise to wake me up for school, and with that thought in mind I started to run down the hard concrete sidewalk. I loved the way the wind ran though my black and blue locks of hair. After being cooped up in the bedroom for seven days, it made me feel so free.

By the time I approached the hospital, every muscle in my leg begged me to stop running as the lactic acid beneath my skin boiled. The only thing that kept me going was the boy in the hospital that had me running this hard in the first place.

The receptionist at the first desk stared at me with wide eyes as I sloppily signed my name on the visitor list. Nearly throwing the pen across the table, I began my maddest dash to the third floor. The hallways were empty except for a few familiar interns doing rounds.

_Abrams, Arthur Thomas_. I flung open the door and slithered in before letting it slam behind me. The room was mostly dark except for the humble amount of moonlight that the windows let in. To my relief, the room was dead silent except for the pumping of the ventilator and steady pulse of the heart monitor.

After standing in front of the door for at least ten minutes to catch my breath and cool off, I ventured to the side of the bed that Artie's bandaged arm laid on. As I sat on the edge of the bed, I took his one steady hand into my two shaking ones.

"I missed you." I said giving it a squeeze. Nothing.

Like in my terrifying dream, I lied down on my side between his arm and Torso. My head found place on Artie's slowly moving chest. His heartbeat echoed in my ear, and it made my mouth curve slightly.

"You're probably wondering why I'm here." I said looking up at his still face as I made circles on his chest with my left index finger.

"I had a bad – no _terrifying _dream. It-it was about you, and-and…I just needed to see you." I stuttered, burring my face into Artie's hospital gown. Images from the dream began replaying in my head, and lying with Artie just made it seem even more real then before.

"Don't leave me." I squeaked. Hearing the ever so strong rhythm of the heart monitor, I started to relax again.

"Artie. Artie, I love you." I sniffed, wiping away a premature tear.

Wrapping my left arm around his torso, I held myself close to him, and closed my tearful eyes…falling asleep almost immediately.

* * *

**A/N: I absolutely whipped myself to get this done tonight. Don't kill me for this one either. Baha.**


	18. Found

When I woke up to the sun shining brightly on my face, I realized that mindlessly falling asleep the night before wasn't such a good idea. Despite how much I didn't want to leave the warm nook I created between Artie's arm and ribcage, I picked up my head to inspect the damage and estimate how much trouble I was going to be in when I got home.

"Good morning, Tina."

My neck snapped forward to see Carla sitting in a chair opposite the bed, laughing to herself as she took a sip from the coffee mug held between her palms. Shocked by her presence, I slowly sat myself up and wiped gook out of the narrow corners of my eyes.

"W-what time is it?" I yawned placing both hands in my lap

"Nine-Thirty." She replied looking at the small digital watch looped on the lanyard around her neck.

"No, it can't be…school started two hours ago. It shouldn't be _that _hard to figure out where I ran off to, and surely my mother would have came by now." I said shaking my head.

"Mrs. Abrams told me that she called home to your family the second she saw your name on the visitor sheet downstairs." Carla said placing her mug on the floor next to her seat.

"Oh." I said under my breath, not knowing how else to reply.

Carla went on to tell me how my mother came to pick me up during Artie's morning checkup. I didn't pay much attention to details...I was still with Artie and that's all I needed.

Skipping breakfast, I continued to lie in bed with Artie for the remainder of morning. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought he was just sleeping. That's how peaceful, despite the intimidating tubes, he was. With his head loosely cradled in my arms, I kissed the side of his rough cheek. He usually kept such a clean face that the prickly sensation against my own sent chills down my spine.

"I miss you, Art." I sighed laying my head back down next to his.

After losing the remote, and being stuck on the food network for half an hour with an empty stomach, I ventured downstairs for something to eat. One stale peanut-butter sandwich and an eight-ounce glass of milk later, I returned upstairs. Under my arm was a gossip magazine that I failed to finish during my meal.

"I'm back." I said, tossing my magazine to the chair across from the bed. I didn't know why I felt the need to talk to Artie. He probably couldn't even hear me, but I suppose it made me feel better thinking that he could.

With an exaggerated exhale, I plopped myself down on the edge of Artie's bed. My left hand traveled up the arm closest to me, and stopped above the nook of his elbow. With my fingers loosely molded around his bicep, I stroked the smooth inside with my thumb. As I watched his chest artificially move up and down, I quietly hummed one of our new numbers for regionals to myself.

Suddenly, a muscle contracted underneath my hold. I didn't think much of it at first, even his _feet _twitched once in a while…but then it happened again followed by a petite shoulder roll.

"Artie?" I softly asked placing my other hand on his chest to lean in.

With a roll of his head against the pillow, the sides of his face twitched as his eyes tightly clenched together. On the other side of his body, I watched his right hand web out before twisting into a loose fist. His baby blues wandered behind closed eyelids.

"Come on, Art. Almost there." I encouraged, leaning in even closer.

After a few gentle pats on his chest, the eyes I fell in love with slowly squinted open. A close mouthed, yet enthusiastic, smile appeared on my face as he watched me though his long baby eyelashes.

"Hi." I said in a pitch higher then my norm as I upgraded my left hand to the side of his face.

With a slow blink, he groaned something from the back of his throat in an attempt to communicate with a tube down his windpipe.

"Artie? Artie I'm gonna go get Carla, okay?" I asked sitting up and bringing my hands into my lap. He walked his hand to my wrist and tightly wrapped his fingers around it. Along with the look on his face, I knew _exactly _what he was thinking: "_I'm scared and confused, please don't leave."_

"They need to know you're awake, Art." I said. He slowly pulled his hand away, giving me permission to leave with a heartbreaking look on his face.

Instead of going down to the front desk to have Carla paged, which would have been the better solution, I jogged around the floors she was assigned to. Only after two misleading colleagues and three flights of stairs, did I find Carla and snag her away from a pile of paper work.

"Welcome back, Arthur." She smiled taking a pile of papers, marked with Artie's full name, out of her clipboard.

I sat in the chair across from the bed with my feet tucked underneath me as I watched Carla analyze Artie like a test subject. Everything but his squinted eyes, which followed Carla around the room, remained still. Honestly, if I was in his position I'd be afraid to move with all those tubes twisted around me too.

"Alright, I'm going to remove the breathing tube…just relax." She said slipping on a pair of rubber gloves. His glance shifted to me and I gave him a reassuring smile before he closed his eyes in preparation.

"Thank you." He said in a soft and raspy voice once the scary looking plastic tube was out.

"You're welcome sugar." She smiled patting his shoulder with a gloved hand.

Carla double checked Artie's vitals and gave me specific instructions on what to do if I needed her again. She also suggested that I give Catherine a call as soon as possible. Only after she was out of sight, did I return to my spot on the edge of the bed.

Not being able to restrain myself any longer, I laid the top half of my body over his with my hands molded over his shoulders. With one swift motion, I firmly draped my lips over his. After keeping the solid closemouthed kiss for longer then necessary, I slowly pried myself an inch away from his face. Our eyes met and moments later, I lowered my face back down as I looped my arms around his neck. With every take hold, my smile grew bigger. I missed this, I missed him.

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**A/N: I originally planned for this to be longer, but ending this chapter on a fluffy note just seemed right after all the despair. Am I right?  
PS: I apologize if you get a double notification...the original submission was without editing, but it appears I didn't delete my mistake fast enough. **


	19. Metamorphosis

Not long after the heartfelt kiss that had me on the verge of tearful bliss, I soon found myself curled at Artie's left side. My head lay on the thin hospital pillow just above his shoulder. The arm of mine not folded across my breast, stretched across his chest with the attached hand molded to the shape of his collarbone. My lower appendages lay straight until I stretched my top leg between his two lifeless limbs.

The way he loosely held his arms around my body signaled how weak his physique was. His usually secure pull could have only been compared to a wet piece of spaghetti draped around my shoulder. Nothing he did had much power behind it.

"You were gone for seven days." I said breaking the silence as I traced the ridged outline of his collarbone with my index finger.

"What would you've done?" He asked, looking up at the ceiling.

"If what?" I asked.

"I never woke up."

I could have done a better just with hiding it, but I was completely taken back by his question. During my solitary confinement, I couldn't help but mull over that particular situation. I never really came to a conclusion.

"Let's not think about that, Art." I said, letting my head sink into the pillow beneath me as a lump developed in my throat. I could almost picture myself ten years into the future sitting at this very bedside, not being able to let him go.

"Okay." He whispered leaning the side of his face on the top of my head. With each blink, his eyelashes brushed against my scalp. The arm that went though my hair tightened ever so slightly around my shoulders, which gave me sense of mind.

"Can I ask _you _a question now?" I asked looking up at him.

"Sure." He said in a childlike manner.

"W-what was it like? Do you remember anything?" I asked, hoping my bluntness didn't confuse him.

"Honestly, until told otherwise, I thought I was just waking up from a good nap." He smirked. I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "There were times though when I could hear - even feel."

"Do you remember any of it?" I asked.

"Bits and pieces." Artie said shrugging his unoccupied shoulder.

"Like what?" I pushed, feeling like I was bombarding Artie with questions

"My mom, she worked on a crossword puzzle out loud at the foot of my bed. You and mom both did that…talked to me." He recalled.

"It probably made her feel better too." I mumbled staring at the base of his neck. His chin pointed down and he recaptured my gaze.

"I also remember you crying." Artie mentioned, repositioning the side of his face. I sucked my lips in and avoided his glance once again. "Right here on my chest." He said patting the place where my sleepy head spent the night before.

"It was right before you said…" He started.

"I love you." I whispered, finishing his sentence.

Looking back up to his face once again, I watched a big smile (or a big smile for someone who just came out of a coma, that is) appear from his chapped lips. By all means, I absolutely didn't expect him to respond the same way. He just woke up, and it was a lot to take in for a kid that missed a week of his life…but it totally blew my mind when he did.

"You mean it?" I asked brushing my thumb back and forth over an artery in his neck. He took his right hand off my wrist and crossed it over his heart. There was my answer. I closed my eyes and sighed happily until his stomach bubbled. I liked to think that it was just caterpillars that mutated into butterflies…but really, he was just hungry.

"Here." I laughed, sitting up. "Let me get you something to eat."

"Thank you." He responded, intertwining empty hands over his stomach.

For my second trip downstairs, I doddled more then I should have. When I made it back into the cafeteria, I surveyed the people. A different crowd was arranged at the tabled with the exception of a few familiar faces. Looking over the patient's menu, I looked for something easy for his still awakening body. Never was I told that he could eat yet, but since the carbon monoxide was out of his system, I had a hunch that it'd be all right.

With a few assorted flavors of applesauce cradled in my arms and a packet of utensils in my back pocket, I made my way up the stairs with more focus then the trip down. Standing in an elevator with five other people made me realize how much of a mess I was. With little makeup on, my hair tangled in sweaty knots, and my bra handing out of my V-neck tee shirt I wondered how I wasn't stopped by Artie. Right…no glasses.

"Geez Tee, I didn't ask for the ICU buffet special." He smirked, now with the bed at a sixty-degree angle. I was glad his sense of humor wasn't affected at all.

"Shush." I said taking the utensils out of my pocket and placing the contents of my arm in the blanketed crevasse between his knees. Walking to the other side of the bed, I took a seat on the edge before swinging my legs over his lap so that I was facing the door.

"Peach or Apple?" I asked grabbing two plastic, tin foil covered cups.

"Is this really necessary?" He asked, answering my question with simply another one. Actually, it was. At the time, I wasn't sure if he could grip his hand tight enough around an eating utensil.

"Yes." I assured him. "Now peach or apple?"

"Apple please." He mumbled.

With a satisfied smirk on my face, I unmasked the cold mush and spoon-fed him small amounts of applesauce at a time. He definitely wasn't pleased by me babying him at first, but I he convinced my otherwise by the end. Too bad I wasn't good enough of a person to do this all the time.

"Your hair's really beautiful, you know that right?" He asked stroking a section down my back.

"I suggest you put your glasses on before you start complementing how I look, Art." I laughed, placing the empty container off to the side. Before he could respond, the door began to open. I fully faced the emerging visitor while Artie merely looked out of the corners of his eyes.

"Artie? Oh my…_Arthur Thomas Abrams I thought I lost you_!" Catherine panted with wide eyes as she brought her hand over her heart.

"Sorry mom." Artie replied, which was followed by a playful tap against his chest with the back of my hand.

"I'm sorry…I meant to call you, but I guess I got – distracted." I said.

"It's okay - it's all right, I'm just ecstatic to see him awake." She said sitting on the oppose edge of the bed I was on.

"Me too, Cath, Me too."

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**A/N: Ha! I totally didn't think I was going to finish this tonight, but look at me now. Sadly, for me at least, there's only one or two chapters left of story. Ho Hum. But hey, at least Artie's awake...I missed writing cute stuff like this. Hope I didn't over do it. Alright, well I'm gonna stop talking (typing?) now. Toodles, and don't forget to review. :)  
**


	20. Feel that Fire

**A/N: Well guys, this is it - the last chapter. I feel like the ending should stand on it's own, so I'm going to thank all of you who've read, reviewed, added, and favorited this story now. Seriously, you guys rock. I'm gonna miss writing this story a lot, and I hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing it. With that, here's the last chapter of _Let the Flames Begin:_**

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To be on the safe side, Artie was kept in the hospital for three additional weeks. Every day his vitals improved and the Artie I knew and loved was completely back to normal after four days. I was allowed to visit Artie on a regular basis only if I guaranteed that I'd get help with my geometry from him...that is, when he was up to the challenge. Honestly that's how I fell asleep our last night in the hospital. Exhaustion plus Euclidean Geometry theorems only could have only led to me passing out on Artie's chest mid problem.

When I awoke the next morning, I found my weekend math homework fanned out across Artie's stomach – completed with his penmanship. After I fell asleep, he probably couldn't help himself with so many mistakes and unanswered problems. In appreciation, I kissed the bottom of his jaw before sliding off to the side and wrapping my arms around his upper right appendage. I was going to miss waking up like this every weekend.

"Well good morning." Artie smiled.

"Oh I'm sorry, Art. Didn't mean to wake you." I said, tilting my head back so I could look up at him.

"Don't worry about it." He blinked, briefly shaking his head against the pillow.

Before I could apologize again, because I had a tendency to do just that, the door creaked open. With his free arm, Artie reached for his glasses to see our visitor, Carla. The whole hospital worked on clockwork, and she was no exception. Placing her clipboard over Artie's shins, she stood over looking the bed with her hands on her broad hips.

"Okay, okay." I laughed, knowing she needed me out of the bed to do what ever she needed to with Artie. The second I unwove my arms and returned then to my own side, a chill went though my body. As I sat in the chair adjacent to the bed, with goose bumps lining my arms, all I could think about was returning to the warm spot to the right of Artie. The IV that stuck out of his left hand was taken out, which reassured that his almost three month hospital stay was coming to an end. A neon green bandage was placed over the small wound left by the needle, which was much unlike the time Artie ripped the darn thing out of his arm to chase after me.

"It's healing nicely." Carla commented, examining the unmerciful burn on his right arm. "But keep it covered and stay _healthy_. I don't wanna see you in this hospital again until the birth of your first child. Ya hear me?"

"Yes ma'am." He mumbled, blushing ever so slightly as he narrowed his eyes.

After Carla found out that Artie could in fact manage to escape his room on his own she returned the wheelchair downstairs, so even with a clean bill of health, he still couldn't leave. Plus legally, Catherine had to sign the release papers. She mentioned ordering a new custom wheelchair for Artie a month ago, so I didn't have doubt in mind that he couldn't take him home once his mom got to the hospital.

"So what now?" He asked placing his hands on his knees and shrugging.

"Well." I said with a troublemakers smile as I stood up out of the chair. Artie tracked me with his eyes as I kneeled onto the bed, straddling the leg closest to me for balance. For the first time in three months, he held me without plastic tubes limiting his motion. It was a simple pleasure that only someone who's lived at a hospital with a loved one would understand. The only thing I missed was hearing his heart rate increase in the form of an F-sharp.

"O-oh my."

Our eyes shot wide open simultaneously, still attached at the lips. Knowing it was Catherine; I pulled away and dismounted her son by swinging my leg out from between his thighs. Artie was blushing like crazy, and it would have been totally adorable if his mother weren't in the doorway with her jaw to the ground. I bit my lip as I sat on the edge of the bed with my hands in my lap.

"W-well, just…come downstairs when you're…done?" Catherine stuttered, pushing the red-framed wheelchair with a neatly folded pile of clothing on the seat to the side. It was obvious she had never dealt with her son's hormones before

"Oh my _god_." Artie commented, falling back against his pillow once Catherine was gone. "We've antagonized my mother."

"What?" I asked straightening out my skirt.

"Now she's going to administrate the _talk_, which is embarrassing enough for an able-bodied teenager…and what if she sends me to some kind of clinic for hormone crazy teenagers. This is _bad_." He ranted.

"Artie clam down." I said, trying my absolute best not to laugh at his panic. Sure I was embarrassed, and his mother would probably never look at me the same ever again, but it was bound to happen eventually.

"Tina this is _my mother_ we're talking about." He said, returning his glasses to the bridge of his nose.

"She wasn't mad…just surprised." I reassured. "Now lets get you dressed and out of this stinkin' hospital." I said reaching for the pile of "nerd clothes" and tossing them to Artie's lap, trying to change the subject. To keep myself occupied, I test drove Artie's new chair in the open space in front of the bed. I was pleased to see that the small wheeled lit up like the ones on the chair destroyed in the fire did.

"I suppose I should give this back to you." I laughed, standing out of the chair once he was fully attired in a pair of creased khaki pants and a royal blue zip up sweater. The way his smile dropped and the look he gave the wheelchair made me curious about what was on his mind.

"What's wrong, Art?" I asked leaning on the armrest of the chair.

"Nothing, it's just…after being bed ridden for so long, I almost forgot that I can't walk." He sighed, looking down at his legs. I could almost feel my heart break in my chest for him.

"Artie." I softly sympathized, taking a seat next to him before throwing my shoulders around my shoulders and kissing the side of his face. Swallowing a lump in his throat, he leaned into my hold. It took a minute before he was ready to face reality again, and it made me want to cry thinking about what was going though his head.

"I guess it does feel better getting out of that darn bed." He said with a small smile, arranging his feet on the bar below them.

"That's my Artie." I smiled crossing my arms over his chest from behind.

After gathering my overnight bag and swinging it over my shoulder, Artie and I headed downstairs. Catherine was in the lobby with a clipboard loaded with a pile of papers half way filled out. Artie gulped as his mother picked up her head, I giggled at his unnecessary fright.

"I'm kinda wary on leaving you two alone now." She jokingly laughed. "But it'd be a _big_ help if you got Artie situated in the van, Tina. I'll be done in a few minutes." She said tossing me her lanyard of keys.

I had waited over three months to push Artie out of the hospital, and I couldn't have been happier. Again, was a simple pleasure that only someone who's lived at a hospital with a loved one would understand. I was ecstatic to see that it was a cloudless and sunny day, especially for poor Artie who hadn't been outside since the night of the fire. For the brief second I let go of the back of the chair to figure out which key went to the van, Artie took advantage of the opportunity and spontaneously bolted in to the parking lot with a cry of joy.

"Artie Abrams!" I scolded as he did a tight circle on his back wheels.

"So help me _god_ if you get run over by a speeding vehicle, because I _refuse_ to spend a second more in this hospital!" I yelled, running after him though the parking lot.

"You've been spending too much time with my mother." He giggled lightly running into my shins.

I wasn't sure what to think when Catherine invited me "home" with Artie and her. Surely a brand new house, especially one costumed to fit Artie, couldn't have been finished already. When my aunt and uncle built a house it took a month _just _to get a building permit let alone plumbing and electrical. My doubts disappeared though when the van turned onto the street of the Abram's previous address.

"It's not finished, but it's livable." She said pulling up next to the curb.

With equipment in the front yard, a house similar to the one that was previously in it's place stood. White plastic covered the perimeter, waiting to be sided. The porch, obviously unfinished, had a makeshift ramp going up the side. Once inside, I began to feel better about where Artie and his mom were going to be living, for the rough outside was false image. Entering the house was like déjà vu almost, for the interior was almost identical to the house that burned down. As I followed Artie down the hall, I could almost imagine the deadly flames jumping from counter to counter and feel its blistering heat.

"So Tina." Artie said turning around to face me in his half furnished room.

"What?" I asked, snapping out of my imagination.

"How about that date?"


End file.
